by Stefano Piazza
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) has brought charges in the Federal Criminal Court against two Swiss nationals aged 22 and 28. The two defendants, both of whom have significant criminal records and are domiciled in the Canton of Zurich, are accused of first supporting the banned terrorist group “Islamic State” (ISIS) and later participating in it as members. They are also accused of attempting to travel to Syria to join ISIS. They also allegedly carried out extensive propaganda activities in favor of ISIS and financially supported ISIS.
In this context, the MPC has been conducting criminal proceedings since December 2021 and is now promoting charges against the two defendants for support of a terrorist organization (Art. 260ter para. 1 lit. a no. 2 in comb. disp. with para. b of the Swiss Criminal Code, SCC), participation in a terrorist organization (Art. 260ter para. 1 lit. a no. 2 SCC) and repeated possession of depiction of acts of crude violence (Art. 135 para. 1bis vCP). As part of this criminal case, coordinated arrests and searches were made in June 2022 in Switzerland and Germany and the defendants were arrested (see also MPC press release dated 6/14/2022).
Planned trip to Syria to join ISIS, propaganda and fundraising
The now 22-year-old defendant is accused of supporting ISIS from April 2020 to December 2021. According to the MPC indictment, from April 2020 he allegedly proceeded with additional acts of support for ISIS, specifically administering an ISIS propaganda channel on Telegram, receiving and transferring funds to ISIS, and, together with another person, planning a trip to Syria to join ISIS. At the time he allegedly committed the crime, he was already of age.
Integration into ISIS and attempted trip to Syria to join ISIS.
The MPC also accuses the 22-year-old defendant of having been a member of ISIS since early December 2021 at the latest. On December 7, 2021, he allegedly attempted to travel to Syria via Turkey to physically join ISIS as a fighter. He would have been willing at any time to die as a martyr for ISIS in Syria, and with this goal , he would have given up his life and all his local contacts in Switzerland. However, he was prevented by Turkish authorities from continuing his journey and was sent back to Switzerland. According to the indictment, prior to his trip he had obtained from another ISIS member a so-called “tazkiyah,” a certification that guarantees the trustworthiness of a new ISIS member.
Integration into ISIS propaganda structures and new travel plan
After the failed travel attempt, the 22-year-old was allegedly intensively involved in the production, translation, coordination, and dissemination of ISIS propaganda since January 2022, together with the 28-year-old co-defendant and two men residing in Germany, one 62 years old and one 28 years old at the time of the events, against whom criminal proceedings were conducted in Germany. According to the indictment, the two Swiss defendants purposely administered numerous Telegram channels through which they disseminated ISIS publications translated into German. Since March 2022, the two defendants allegedly inserted themselves and men in Germany into ISIS’s official propaganda structures. They allegedly participated in a group chat administered by high-ranking ISIS members. The defendants had submitted to their authority and received instructions from them. They would submit any disputes to them, with the goal of resolving them in a binding manner. The 28-year-old allegedly supported ISIS until he joined the group chat and later participated in it.
The 22-year-old and 28-year-old also allegedly founded, together with men domiciled in Germany, an ISIS communications agency to produce ISIS propaganda materials in German, intended to be disseminated on a website that served ISIS as one of the most important distribution points for propaganda translated into numerous languages.
In addition, from January 2022 until their arrest in June 2022, the two defendants allegedly took steps to plan their travel to Syria for the purpose of joining ISIS.
Financing ISIS through cryptocurrency.
Finally, the 22-year-old man and the 28-year-old man are accused of financing ISIS together with a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who was a minor at the time of the events, through cryptocurrency transactions amounting to CHF 12,940.00 at the time of the events. The Juvenile Judiciary conducts separate criminal proceedings against the minor.
Both defendants have relevant criminal records
Both individuals are already defendants for supporting ISIS. Juvenile criminal proceedings have been conducted against the 22-year-old until April 2021. He was convicted by indictment for promoting ISIS and spreading its propaganda in 2019
.
The 28-year-old was a defendant in an MPC criminal case until January 2022. At the time, he was suspected of involvement in the Nov. 2, 2020 Vienna bombing claimed by ISIS. He spent about six months in pre-trial detention. As for the bombing, the case was dropped. However, the defendant was convicted by indictment for spreading ISIS propaganda.
Conduct of the criminal proceedings
After their arrest in June 2022, the two defendants were in pretrial detention. The 22-year-old was released from prison in May 2024 with the adoption of substitute measures, which are still in effect. The 28-year-old was in pre-trial detention from August 2023 to September 2024 and again in pre-trial detention until the prosecution was promoted.Security detention was ordered for him. In the present criminal proceedings, the MPC cooperated both domestically and internationally closely with various authorities involved, including through a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) with the German authorities. Investigations in the Swiss criminal proceedings were conducted by fedpol with the support of the cantonal police of Zurich and St. Gallen, under the direction of the MPC.