Swiss man who joined Syrian armed group is acquitted  

The court found there was not enough evidence he joined armed combat. © Keystone / Jean-christophe Bott

A Swiss court on Friday acquitted a young man charged after joining an armed group in Syria fighting Islamic State.

The man was charged with doing “military service abroad”, in the context of the campaign against Islamic State which by the end of 2015 had taken large swathes of Syria and Iraq, imposing strict Islamic law. He was accused of joining the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a mainly Kurdish group in Syria and the main component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The military tribunal in Sion, southwest Switzerland, found that he did travel to the self-proclaimed autonomous region of Rojava for about six months between 2015 and 2016. It also highlighted his sympathy for the Kurdish cause and his internationalist ideals.

However, the court found that the evidence of his involvement in armed combat against the militant Islamic State group was insufficient. The costs of the proceedings and lawyer’s fees are to be borne by the federal government.

Under Swiss military criminal law, foreign service – such as being a mercenary – can be punished with a prison sentence of up to three years or a fine.