Alleged jihadist to be deported from Switzerland

A man is in deportation custody following his arrest at the federal asylum centre in Kreuzlingen in northern Switzerland. He was initially suspected of being a member of a terrorist organization.

Having consulted with the Office of the Attorney GeneralExternal link (OAG) in Bern, the local public prosecutor plans to wrap up the criminal investigation with a penalty order for illegal entry. The public prosecutor’s office in Kreuzlingen in Canton Thurgau said that the arrested person had been questioned in the presence of federal police officers.

“To the best of our knowledge, the OAG did not open a criminal investigation due to too little initial suspicion [of terrorism],” Thurgau Chief Prosecutor Marco Breu told news agency Keystone-SDA on Saturday. The OAG was not available for comment.

The nationality of the man is not clear. Various Swiss media such as Blick and 20minuten had quoted the portal “Crime Switzerland”, which had reported that a suspected Islamic State (IS) fighter had arrived in Switzerland from Syria about half a year ago.

According to the portal, the man had initially lived in the asylum centre in Altstätten, and was later recognized and unmasked as an IS fighter by a Syrian at the asylum centre in Kreuzlingen.