Islamic Council leaders face retrial for Jihadist propaganda
Islamic council president Nicolas Blancho (left) and its spokesman Qassim Illi now face a retrial. The sentence against Naïm Cherni (right) was confirmed.
Keystone
Switzerland’s Supreme Court has overturned the acquittal of two Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS) leaders accused of terrorist propaganda.
This content was published on
1 minute
Keystone-SDA/jc
Islamic council president Nicolas Blancho and its spokesman Qassim Illi were accused of broadcasting propaganda videos in support of the terrorist group al-Qaeda. But they were acquitted in 2018 by the Federal Criminal Court on a technicality. The author of the films, Naïm Cherni, was given a 20-month suspended prison sentence.
In its decision released on Friday the Supreme Court confirmed the lower court’s verdict on Cherni, but overturned the acquittals of Blancho and Illi, saying the lower court had erred through “excessive formalism”. It referred them back to the Federal Criminal Court which will now have to reopen the case.
The men were charged in relation to an interview by Cherni in Syria in 2015 with a leading member of the banned terrorist organisation al-Qaeda. Films of the interview were subsequently used as propaganda for the al-Qaeda member concerned, according to the indictment. Two videos were published on YouTube.
The ICCSExternal link describes itself as the country’s largest Islamic organisation and says it focuses on representing the local population. However, its 3,000 members make up less than 1% of the estimated 400,000 Muslims in Switzerland.
More
More
Swiss attorney general appeals Islamic Council acquittals
This content was published on
Switzerland’s attorney general filed an appeal against the acquittal of two Islamic leaders who had been accused of making terrorist propaganda.
This content was published on
Swiss minister Karin Keller-Sutter wants to use Platform X to communicate with the population during her term as president in 2025.
Swiss Post delivers record number of parcels in pre-Christmas period
This content was published on
Swiss Post delivered a total of 22.3 million parcels between the Black Friday promotional week at the end of November and Christmas.
SWISS plane in Graz: employee still in intensive care
This content was published on
The cabin crew member of the SWISS Airbus A220 which made an emergency landing in Graz, Austria, on Monday is still in intensive care.
WWF sounds alarm: wildlife populations are plummeting
This content was published on
The WWF’s Living Planet Report 2024 found that the wild animal populations surveyed have shrunk by an average of 73% over the last 50 years.
Two decades after tsunami, Swiss tourists flock to Southeast Asia
This content was published on
Twenty years after a catastrophic tsunami in Southeast Asia, the region is again a top destination for Swiss, including at Christmas.
Swiss forests better equipped for storms 25 years after Lothar
This content was published on
Twenty-five years after Hurricane Lothar wreaked havoc in Switzerland, the country’s forests are now better prepared, experts say.
Media: Swiss medical services done abroad are billed at Swiss rates
This content was published on
In Switzerland, some medical services carried out abroad are still billed at Swiss rates, despite costing less, RTS reports.
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.