Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova (centre) says her office has already opened some 21,000 cases of alleged war crimes.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved
The Swiss justice ministry has received several requests from Ukraine for help in investigating war crimes, reports the SonntagsBlick newspaper.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/SonntagsBlick/jc
Русский
ru
Украина просит Швейцарию о помощи в расследовании военных преступлений
A ministry spokesman told the paper that these requests were being examined. The government has not revealed any information about their content, but the paper says it’s likely that Ukraine wants to question Ukrainian refugees in Switzerland who are witnesses to war crimes in their country.
It is also possible, writes SonntagsBlick, that Ukraine suspects the presence of alleged perpetrators in Switzerland. In that case, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) could open its own case under international criminal law. No such proceedings are under way at present.
SonntagsBlick notes that Swiss police have already started taking testimonies from Ukrainian refugees who have witnessed war crimes and has set up a website to encourage them to come forward. War crimes efforts related to Ukraine are being coordinated by a taskforce, headed by Attorney General Stefan Blättler and with involvement of the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM).
Switzerland is also coordinating its efforts with other countries, notably through the European Union’s Eurojust agency in The Hague. Sonntagsblick says Attorney General Blättler travelled to The Hague in May and met with Prosecutor Karim Khan of the International Criminal Court, which is also investigating war crimes in Ukraine.
The reports of atrocities by Russian forces in Ukraine have clearly united European countries that have traditionally been reluctant to investigate international crimes, writes the paper. But such investigations are long and difficult and it may take years to identify perpetrators.
More
More
What are the Swiss doing to gather evidence of war crimes in Ukraine?
This content was published on
Switzerland has set up a taskforce to collect evidence from refugees of possible war crimes in Ukraine.
Direct trains to run from Zurich to Florence and Livorno
This content was published on
The Swiss Federal Railways and Trenitalia will offer direct trains from Zurich to Florence and Livorno and vice versa from 2026.
Number of Swiss armed forces exceeds specified limit
This content was published on
The Swiss armed forces had an effective headcount of around 147,000 as of March 1, 2024. This exceeds the upper limit of 140,000 specified in the army organisation by 5%.
More than 400,000 cross-border commuters now work in Switzerland
This content was published on
More than half of all cross-border commuters were resident in France (around 57%). Large proportions also lived in Italy (23%) and Germany (around 16%).
Amherd and von der Leyen discuss ongoing Swiss-EU negotiations
This content was published on
Swiss President Viola Amherd and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have met and talked about the ongoing negotiations between Bern and Brussels.
This content was published on
One million francs, 34 million euros and around 830 kilos of gold: this is the fortune that two Swiss nationals are accused of having moved across borders for at least four years.
Girls in female-dominated classes earn more later on
This content was published on
At the age of 30, women from school classes with a 55% share of girls earn $350 more per year than women from classes with a 45% share of girls.
This content was published on
Geneva-based luxury goods group Richemont reported a downturn in performance for the first half of its 2024/25 financial year. Both sales and profit declined.
This content was published on
The aim is to gather evidence in order to be able to respond quickly to any subsequent criminal proceedings or requests for mutual legal assistance.
Switzerland to boost support for International Criminal Court
This content was published on
The Swiss government is to send two more experts to the International Criminal Court, which has launched a probe on Ukraine.
Ukraine: can sanctions or war crimes investigations stop the war?
This content was published on
Evidence of atrocities in Ukraine has been met with accusations of war crimes and sanctions against Russia. Inside Geneva looks at what this means.
Will Russia’s leaders be brought to justice for Ukraine war crimes?
This content was published on
As the International Criminal Court opens an investigation on Ukraine, we look at the chances of Russia’s leaders being held to account for the war.
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.