Swiss man released after arrest in connection with Austrian bomb threats
According to the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), around 450 trains and thousands of passengers were affected by the first five bomb threats at railway stations alone.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Swiss man released after arrest in connection with Austrian bomb threats
A 20-year-old Swiss man was arrested under suspicion that he sent emails with bomb threats against numerous institutions in Austria. According to the public prosecutor’s office, the man was subsequently released.
No pre-trial detention was requested, a spokesperson for the St Gallen public prosecutor’s office told the Austrian news agency APA on Wednesday. The man will not be extradited to Austria by the Swiss authorities. “As a Swiss citizen, he would have to give his consent, but he has not,” said the spokesperson.
The St Gallen authorities carried out a house search on the 20-year-old. The “requested procedural acts” have been completed. Now the Austrians have to react.
The responsible public prosecutor’s office in Linz, however, believes that the Swiss should take over the case. If the man cannot be extradited, the proceedings will have to be taken over by them, a spokesperson told the APA. According to the spokesperson, this is part of the request for legal assistance.
27 bomb threats received
The Austrian authorities have been investigating a total of 27 anonymous bomb threats across Austria since September 30, all of which were received by email. Railway stations were particularly affected, but threats were also received against schools and shopping centres. The subsequent police operations sometimes led to evacuations.
According to the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), around 450 trains and thousands of passengers were affected by the first five bomb threats at railway stations alone. In total, train services were disrupted for around eight hours, according to the Austrian Federal Railways.
The Austrian state security authorities investigated the 20-year-old Swiss national as an “urgent” suspect. A European arrest warrant had been issued for him.
Translated from German by DeepL/jdp
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.
Is artificial intelligence an advantage or a disadvantage for workers?
What is your experience with AI at work? Have you already used it? Has it helped you work better? Or has it caused you more stress, more work or caused you to lose your job? Tell us about your experiences!
Should raw milk sales be banned or should consumers decide?
Swiss food regulations do not allow raw milk to be sold for direct consumption. However, a loophole allows 400 raw milk vending machines to do just that.
Former top diplomats call on Switzerland to keep UNRWA funding
This content was published on
Some twenty former Swiss state secretaries, and ambassadors have called on the Swiss Senate not to stop payments to UNRWA.
Public prosecutor closes church abuse case in canton Valais
This content was published on
The Public Prosecutor's Office in the southern canton of Valais has closed the case of abuse perpetrated within the Church.
Number of women in Swiss labour market more than doubled in half century
This content was published on
According to the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, women's participation in the labor market has more than doubled in half a century.
This content was published on
Nestlé recorded slower growth than hoped in the first nine months of 2024, making it difficult to achieve previous growth targets for the year.
Swiss cantons step up efforts to tackle child poverty
This content was published on
Swiss cantons and cities have decided to strengthen social welfare services and increase basic needs provisions for children in poverty.
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.