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Three suspected Swiss IS members repatriated from Turkey

Armoured cars drive along a road
Turkish forces have apprehended many IS suspects on the border with Syria. Keystone / Deniz Toprak

Three Swiss citizens suspected of being members of Islamic State (IS) group have been repatriated to Switzerland from Turkey. The two men and one woman will now face criminal proceedings, according to Swiss public broadcaster SRF.

The trio had been detained by the Turkish authorities, but the reason for their arrest remains unclear. The Swiss Office of the Attorney General (OAG) told SRF that none of them had been detained in the IS war zone on the border between Turkey and Syria.

Upon arrival in Switzerland, they were questioned by the Swiss security authorities, but not detained. The OAG has opened criminal proceedings but as it told Keystone-SDA on Friday, the presumption of innocence must prevail.

A Turkish precedent

This represents the first time that Turkey has repatriated Swiss citizens in this manner. Swiss Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter has previously rejected the notion of people belonging to outlawed terrorist groups returning to Switzerland to stand trial. Instead, she is in favour of suspects being tried in the country that arrests them.

It is unclear why repatriation took place in this instance, but the Turkish authorities say it was carried out with the cooperation of the Swiss authorities.

At present there are 60-70 criminal proceedings underway in Switzerland against suspected terrorist sympathisers who have allegedly disseminated propaganda for banned organisations. Such actions violate the law that prohibits such groups as Al-Qaida and Islamic State.

In addition, the ministry for migration has opened a handful of active cases to possibly withdraw Swiss nationality of individuals linked to the Syrian conflict. Another 15-20 cases are under review.

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SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR