Swiss court upholds entry ban against former Geneva mosque guard
The Petit-Saconnex mosque in northern Geneva
Keystone / Dominic Favre
A French-Tunisian citizen who used to work as a security guard at Geneva’s main mosque has been banned from Switzerland for ten years due to his alleged links to religious fundamentalists, a Swiss court ruled on Friday, confirming an earlier decision.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/sb
The measure imposed by the Federal Office of Police in June 2017, was confirmed by the Federal Administrative Court in a ruling published on Friday.
The French-Tunisian man lived just over the border in France and worked in Switzerland from 2006-2013 as a security guard at Switzerland’s biggest mosque in the Petit-Saconnex district of Geneva.
The federal police imposed a ban as they claimed the man was in regular contact with people who had been radicalised and that he posed a threat to Switzerland. The man had appealed to the Federal Administrative Court.
In its ruling on Friday, the court said the man had maintained regular contacts with several radicalised individuals who promoted the use of violence to achieve their objectives. One individual had travelled to the Turkish-Iraqi border to join the Islamic State militant group.
The court warned of the man’s “particularly worrying” links with members of Libya’s Ansar al-Sharia Islamist militant group, which has been classified as a terrorist organisation by the Tunisian authorities.
The court underlined that radicalised people had frequented the Petit-Saconnex mosque in the past. It added that the former security guard had a criminal record and that he had not cooperated during the appeal’s process. Consequently, the judges ruled that the federal police’s analysis had not been exaggerated.
The man can appeal the decision at Switzerland’s Federal Court.
More
More
New management appointed to run Geneva mosque
This content was published on
Switzerland’s largest mosque, which has been embroiled in various controversies, has a new director, reports Swiss public radio, RTS.
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
This content was published on
Unknown assailants have stolen a historic ring from a Basel museum. The stolen item was a gift from Russian Tsar Alexander I to his host in Basel in 1814.
More May hotel guests in Basel than at any time in past 90 years
This content was published on
Basel hotels recorded 150,854 overnight stays for the Eurovision Song Contest in May. This corresponds to a year-on-year increase of 8.4%.
Demand remains high for rental flats in Switzerland
This content was published on
More rental flats are once again being advertised on property portals in Switzerland. However, demand also remains very high.
One in five Europeans exposed to too much traffic noise
This content was published on
More than one in five Europeans are exposed to unhealthily high levels of traffic noise, according to the European Environment Agency (EEA).
New living space through densification often comes at expense of the poor
This content was published on
If demolition and new construction are carried out and tenants have to make way, low-income households are affected more often than average.
This content was published on
The ceasefire in the Iran-Israel war has visibly eased tensions on the financial markets. The SMI, Switzerland's leading stock market index, has risen above the 12,000 point mark again.
This content was published on
Geneva, which is facing several days of very hot weather, has raised its level of vigilance with regard to the risk of forest fires and is issuing an appeal for caution.
Zurich arbitration authority rules in favour of tenants of ‘Sugus Houses’
This content was published on
A conciliation authority says the terminations of 105 flat leases in the so-called "Sugus Houses" in the centre of Zurich were abusive. The tenants therefore do not have to move out - at least for the time being.
Zurich and Geneva are top Swiss jihadist recruitment places
This content was published on
Jihadist recruitment in Geneva centred around the Petit-Saconnex mosque, with two taxi drivers helping to recruit and radicalise people, according to an investigation by Le Matin Dimanche newspaper.
This content was published on
Switzerland’s largest mosque, which has been embroiled in various controversies, has a new director, reports Swiss public radio, RTS.
This content was published on
The Tribune de Genève newspaper reported earlier in the day that around 20 armed police had raided their homes in the border town of Ferney-Voltaire on Wednesday night. The two imams, who were not named, work at the mosque in Geneva’s Petit-Saconnex district managed by the Fondation Culturelle Islamique de Genève. In a statement issued…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.