Swiss court declares arrest of pro-Palestine activist illegal

Court finds arrest of pro-Palestine activists illegal Keystone-SDA

Zurich Administrative Court has ruled that the arrest of a pro-Palestine activist was unlawful. The man was due to perform at an event in Zurich in January 2025 but was detained by the cantonal police.

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The Zurich cantonal police had requested an entry ban for the Jordanian-American dual national. Fedpol, the Federal Office of Police, issued such a ban when the 53-year-old had already entered Switzerland, as can be seen from the judgement published on Thursday.

Just one day earlier, Fedpol had rejected the request because it did not recognise any threat to internal or external security posed by the man. Following his arrest on January 25, the activist was detained. He travelled out on January 27 on a flight that had already been booked.

The administrative court has now ruled that the man was inadequately informed of the reason for his detention. “To date, it is not clear on what factual and legal basis the detention by the Zurich cantonal police was based,” the judgement states.

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As the Neue Zürcher Zeitung wrote at the time, the activist wanted to perform at the occupied Wipkingen post office. In the newspaper, Zurich’s security director Mario Fehr called the man an “Islamist Jew-hater”. The man defended himself, saying he was standing up for just and legitimate Palestinian rights. He spoke of a “kidnapping”. He still failed with his complaint at the Zurich District Court.

In its judgement, the Administrative Court also stated that the cantonal police could have handed over the Fedpol order to the 53-year-old on the day of his arrest. “From this point in time at the latest, there was no longer any basis for detaining the complainant,” it states. The man would therefore have been released on the day of his arrest instead of remaining in prison for several days.

The canton must also pay compensation to the complainant, who was represented by a lawyer. The court considers CHF9,500 ($11,900) to be appropriate, given the “unusual nature and complexity of the case”. The Canton of Zurich Migration Office must also pay the court costs of CHF1,070.

The judgement is not yet final and can be appealed to the Federal Court.

Adapted from German by AI/ts

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