Swiss public prosecutor investigating Hamas financing links

Stefan Blättler took up the job as Swiss Attorney General in January 2022. © Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle

The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has opened an investigation into suspected Swiss financing of Palestinian militant group Hamas.

“The criminal investigation was opened a few weeks ago, shortly before the Hamas attack in Israel,” Attorney General Stefan Blättler told SRF public radio on Saturday.

The investigation is being conducted with the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) and is based on suspicions of financing a terrorist organisation. Blättler said he could not give more details about the case in order not to jeopardise it.

In the case of the Swiss-Israeli dual citizen killed in the October 7 Hamas attack, as well as in the case of the Swede recently killed in Belgium and who resided in Switzerland, the OAG is also examining whether to open proceedings.

+ What it would mean for Switzerland to label Hamas a terrorist group

Complicated case

As for the suspicions of financing a terrorist organisation, the question must be clarified whether Hamas is a terrorist group according to the Swiss Criminal Code, Blättler said. Currently only Al-Qaeda and Islamic State are defined as such. It would be easier for the proceedings if Hamas was officially considered such an organisation, Blättler said.

It would take years for an organisation like Hamas to be legally considered a terrorist organisation in Switzerland, Blättler added. The individual elements of terrorist offences would have to be proven, and appeals would undoubtedly end up before the Federal Court.

Asked about a Swiss investigation into terrorist financing that was initiated 20 years ago and, according to SRF, was closed without charges, Blättler said it was difficult to prove the individual elements of the offence.

+ Switzerland has nothing to gain by labelling Hamas a terrorist group, expert says

On October 11, the Swiss government announced its intention to classify Hamas as a terrorist organisation and have it banned. A task force reporting directly to the government is to examine the legal options for doing this.

Blätter added that some 70 cases related to terrorism in the broader sense were currently pending before the OAG. He also said that there were too few criminal police officers at the federal level – not only in the area of counter-terrorism, but also in the area of combating criminal organisations.

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