Swiss jihadist knife attacker jailed for nine years

The trial heard that the defendent would attack again, only "more efficiently". © Ti-press

A woman who stabbed two people in a shopping centre in southern Switzerland in a jihadist-inspired attack has been sentenced to nine years imprisonment by a Swiss court.

The 29-year-old woman was found guilty on two counts of attempted murder and belonging to a banned terrorist organisation at the Federal Criminal Court on Monday.

The attacks took place in a shopping centre in the southern Swiss city of Lugano in 2020 when two female shoppers were stabbed. One suffered serious neck injuries and the other was slashed on her hands.

The court heard that the defendent had links with the banned Islamic terrorist group Islamic State and had conducted an online rerlationship with a jihadist in Syria. During the attacks she shouted “Allahu Akbar” (“God is Great”) and “Sono qui per l’ISIS” (“I am here for ISIS”).

At the trial she told the judge that she would repeat the offence given the chance but would do it “more efficiently”.

The court heard that the accused was afflicted by a psychotic disorder resembling schizophrenia, but that the attack was nevertheless pre-meditated rather than impulsive. 

The court ordered that the woman spend part of her sentence at a secure psychiatric institution.

Federal prosecutors had demanded a jail sentence of 14 years but said on Monday they would review the written court verdict before deciding how to act.

The woman was also fined CHF2,000 ($2,070) for illegal prostitution.