The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office has already opened criminal proceedings against Daniel D. But for the moment, only his parents will be tried in separate proceedings (illustrative image).Image: KEYSTONE
The Federal Council has so far refused to repatriate Swiss supporters of terrorism from abroad. The problem is getting worse with the upheavals in Syria.
Christoph Bernet and Andreas Maurer / ch media
Daniel D. is Swiss and does not have an immigrant background. He grew up in a Catholic family in Geneva. But at the age of 20, he left in 2015 for jihad, the holy war of the terrorist organization Islamic State (IS or Daesh). Photos from this time show him with long hair.
This is Daniel D.Image: dr
He quickly progressed within IS. According to information from the intelligence services, he was part of the department that planned the attacks. He would have announced himself as a suicide bomber. He did not take action, but he reportedly fought for Daesh. Due to his high position within the terrorist organization, he was considered the most dangerous jihadist in Switzerland.
Four years after his departure, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), dominated by the Kurds, arrested him in Baghouz, the last stronghold held by ISIS. Since then, he has languished in Syrian prisons in precarious conditions.
A recent judgment by the Federal Court reveals what the Swiss authorities currently know about him: he is in Derik prison, in the far north of Syria, which is under Kurdish control. He is “so far in good health”but suffers from an old combat injury – shrapnel is stuck in his right foot – and breathing problems. He is under medical care.
The Swiss authorities lost contact with Daniel D.. His Kurdish contacts in any case told them that prison visits were not possible. However, the Islamist has already received several visits from journalists, the last being that of a cameraman commissioned by Swiss television two years ago.
Jihadist Daniel D. during an interview in a Syrian prison.Image: SRF screenshot
Daniel D., with shaved hair, dark circles under his eyes and an emaciated face, sat in front of the camera and leveled accusations of torture against his guards. They would beat the detainees, torture them with electric shocks and put nails in their food. Kurdish authorities have denied these accusations.
The Federal Court rules in favor of Daniel D.: does he obtain protection?
This native of Geneva requested consular protection from Switzerland. But the Department of Foreign Affairs has so far informed him that he was negligent and therefore not entitled to repatriation. Due to the insecurity in Syria, it is currently not possible to do more for him.
Daniel D., however, has now won his case before the Federal Court. The Department of Foreign Affairs must re-examine its situation and treat the case as a priorityas the judgment indicates. Asked about this, the authorities assure that they will now do so without delay.
His lawyer Thomas Wenger finds it “incredible” that Daniel D. has now been waiting for more than two years for a response from the Department of Foreign Affairs:
“Switzerland is letting him rot in prison without doing anything”
He is a Swiss citizen who is in a foreign prison without accusation and without legal proceedings. Switzerland must take it back:
“Because we also expect other countries to take back their citizens in the event of alleged serious offenses or illegal stay”
In total, Kurdish forces are holding around 2,000 foreign Daesh fighters in prisons and tens of thousands of women and children in prison camps in northeastern Syria. For years, Kurdish authorities have been calling on countries of origin to take back their jihadists.
-IS victors are under pressure for three reasons
For years, the SDF has been the main ally and virtually the ground troops of the U.S.-led alliance against ISIS. After the overthrow in Syria and the flight of dictator Bashar al-Assad on December 8, 2024, the situation of the autonomous Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria deteriorated. The IS winners are under pressure for three reasons:
- First, Syrian National Army (SNA) militias, supported by Turkey, seized several towns from the SDF. The ANS is also trying to seize a strategic dam on the Euphrates River, near the Arab Kurdish town of Kobani. The FDS therefore detached security forces to this front. But there is now a shortage of personnel to monitor prison camps and fight remaining terrorist cells. The latter have recently increased the number of attacks.
- Second, victorious rebels, led by the Islamist HTS militia, now rule in Damascus. This comes from the Al-Nusra Front, the Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda, and also has close links with Turkey. The new government announced that it would not tolerate any other armed groups. The Kurdish militias refuse this dissolution. However, they are ready to discuss integration into the Syrian armed forces.
- Third, the imminent arrival of Donald Trump in power increases uncertainty. Trump admires authoritarian Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The latter has already threatened several times to “destroy” the Kurds. Trump also wants to end the American military presence in Syria. If US troops withdraw, the SDF will no longer be able to secure ISIS prison camps. Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi recently said in an interview with Spiegel:
“We will then need our forces to secure our families”
Johannes Saal is an expert in jihadism and radicalization at the University of Lucerne. According to him, “the fall of Assad highlighted the instability of the situation in Syria”. This carries the risk that captured IS fighters will escape or be released. ISIS has achieved this several times in recent years through prison riots and targeted attacks. Johannes Saal believes that Switzerland now has a responsibility. Because jihadists have become radicalized here, in Europe. But Western states left the Kurds alone to face the problem.
However, the Federal Council does not want to recover adult supporters of Daesh in captivity like Daniel D.. The strategy defined six years ago is still valid, as confirmed by the Department of Justice. The Federal Council specified that the security of Switzerland and the protection of its population took precedence over the interests of the people concerned.
For minors, however, Switzerland is examining repatriation. The best interests of the child are decisive. However, the mothers must agree for their children to return to Switzerland while they themselves must remain in Syria.
Daniel D. is not the only Swiss Islamist currently detained by the Kurds in northeast Syria. According to information from the Department of Foreign Affairs, two men and a woman from the canton of Vaud as well as their seven-year-old daughter are also in captivity. The latter was born in the IS caliphate.
Kurdish security forces arrested the family. The father has been in prison since then, the mother and child are in the Roj camp. A repatriation has so far failed, because the mother does not want to separate from her daughter.
PS national councilor Fabian Molina believes that it is high time for the Federal Council to modify its “untenable strategy and totally devoid of solidarity”. The politician and co-president of Swissaid demands that “Switzerland recovers its captured nationals and that these IS terrorists are subject to a proper trial in Switzerland».
Daniel D.’s parents in court
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office has already opened criminal proceedings against Daniel D. But for the moment, only his parents will be tried in separate proceedings. They lost everything: first their son, then their money.
After leaving the country, Daniel D. initially broke off contact. But then he took it back and asked his parents for money. They paid him in several installments everything they had: 50,000 francs.
He told them he needed money to pay a smuggler so he could leave the country with his family. In the war zone, he married a radicalized French woman. Together they had a 6-year-old daughter.
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office, however, does not consider this support as a good deed, but as a crime and accuses the parents of supporting terrorism. This is the first indictment of parents of jihadists.
The father, aged 70, has not yet appeared in court because he was ill. The trial will therefore resume in two weeks. The mother, aged 60, has already testified. She would not have wanted to support the war, but only her son:
“I wanted him to be able to return, with his wife and his baby”
She called the photos of him with a gun in his hand fake. Perhaps he was forced to pose like this. She can’t imagine that her son is a terrorist, he who has always been so gentle.
More articles on terrorism
Translated from German and adapted by Chiara Lecca
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