Switzerland indicts 2 men on terrorism-related charges

GENEVA (AP) — Swiss federal prosecutors on Monday announced an indictment of a Kosovar and a Swiss-Macedonian dual national on terrorism-related charges and spreading the ideology of the banned extremist group Islamic State.

The 36-year-old Kosovar and the 33-year-old dual national, who were not identified by name, are suspected of having carried out indoctrination, financing and recruitment of the Swiss chapter of a “Kosovar terrorist organization” over the last decade, mostly in the Geneva area, the Swiss Attorney General’s office said.

The two men were arrested in September 2022 in connection with an investigation into their alleged support for the Islamic State group. The suspects allegedly launched a drive to drum up backing and funds for a “Salafi-jihadi ideology” with hopes to destabilize Kosovo and seize territory to rule under sharia law.

The suspects face charges including participation in a terrorist group, bribery of public officials and money laundering. as well as for illegally drawing some social benefits in Switzerland, according to the prosecutors.

The case now moves to the federal criminal court. Under Swiss law, the suspects are entitled to a presumption of innocence until the judicial process runs its full course and ends with a guilty verdict.

Switzerland, whose policy of neutrality aims to keep it out of conflicts, has largely avoided the violent extremism that swept across other parts of Europe and around the world in recent decades.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, with most Western nations recognizing its sovereignty, but Serbia and its allies Russia and China don’t.