Court rules al-Qaeda supporter can stay in Switzerland
The Federal Administrative Court in St Gallen, Switzerland.
Keystone / Gaetan Bally
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Court rules al-Qaeda supporter can stay in Switzerland
A Kurdish supporter of the Islamist terrorist network al-Qaeda can stay in Switzerland, the Federal Administrative Court has ruled. It has withdrawn the annulment of the man’s provisional admission.
The man, who is originally from Iraq, came to Switzerland in 1998 and was granted asylum. He was arrested in 2008 because of his activities on internet forums linked to jihadist networks. His residence status was annulled due to these acts as well as irregularities in the asylum procedure.
In January 2016, the man and his brother were convicted of supporting a criminal organisation and forgery. He was sentenced to three years and three months in prison and deportation, along with an indefinite ban on entering Switzerland.
However, since these measures were not enforced, he was granted temporary admission. In 2023, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) determined that the admission had to be revoked due to the amendment to the Foreigners and Integration Act (AIG) that had been made in the meantime.
Judgment not yet final
In its ruling, the Federal Administrative Court has now overturned the SEM’s decision. It states that the possibility of revoking the licence, particularly in the case of terrorist activities, provided for in the recent version of the law only came into force after the decision in favour of the complainant.
However, the AIG does not provide for retroactive application of this provision.
The court ruling is final, but the final word in this case has not yet been spoken. The Federal Office of Police decided to deport the man in July 2023. An appeal against this decision is also pending before the Federal Administrative Court.
Translated from German with DeepL/sb
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Most Read Swiss Abroad
More
Why cars still reign supreme in ‘rail-nation’ Switzerland
Swiss price watchdog slams excessive prices for generic medicines
This content was published on
The cheapest generic medicines available in Switzerland are more than twice as expensive as in other countries, according to a study by the Swiss price watchdog.
Nature should not figure in net zero calculations: academic study
This content was published on
The natural removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by forests or oceans should not be included in the net-zero balance of climate protection measures, argue researchers.
This content was published on
None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.
This content was published on
Nestlé's new CEO Laurent Freixe, has presented plans for the future of the world's largest food company, after his first few weeks in office.
Swiss foreign minister calls on Moscow to end Ukraine war
This content was published on
It's high time Moscow ended its war against Ukraine, Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis tells the UN Security Council.
This content was published on
The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.
Study reveals food culture differences between Switzerland and neighbours
This content was published on
Three-quarters of Swiss people consider eating to be a pleasurable, social activity, a new survey reveals. Healthy eating, however, plays a much less important role, it found.
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.