The Federal Criminal Court dealt with the first jihadist-motivated attack on Swiss soil. The perpetrator took note of the verdict without moving – until the judge addressed him personally.
He suddenly stabbed at the accidental victim: The 29-year-old in court in Bellinzona (drawing from December).
“Finally, a few personal words: Do you hear me?” the court chairman asked the perpetrator, who had just been sentenced to 20 years in prison and inpatient therapy. Then OA*, who until then had buried his head at knee level and seemed completely impassive, suddenly looked up and listened attentively to the judge’s admonishing verdict.
“Your crimes have caused the general public a great deal of suffering. Use the time in prison now and benefit from the therapeutic measures. Hopefully this will give you skills that could one day be useful to those close to you and to society,” said the judge, concluding the pronouncement of the judgment that will go down in Swiss legal history.
Because the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona had to deal with the first jihadist-motivated attack in Switzerland. This happened on September 12, 2020 in Morges in Vaud. Out of the blue, OA, a dual Turkish-Swiss citizen, stabbed a 29-year-old Portuguese man with friends at a kebab joint with a kitchen knife. The perpetrator shouted “Allahu akbar” (“God is great”) and immediately left the scene of the crime, while the random victim died of internal bleeding within a few minutes.
IS video recommended “stab in the kidney area”
For the Federal Criminal Court, the offense weighs extremely heavily. The perpetrator had shown “total contempt” for the life of another person and had acted with the greatest brutality and determination. He committed the crime intentionally, as evidenced by the fact that he had repeatedly reconnoitred the scene of the crime and had acquired the knife only a short time before. For the exact exercise, he was guided by a propaganda video by the Islamic State (IS), which recommends a “knife in the kidney area”. In short: The 29-year-old was convicted of murder and had to undergo a therapeutic measure behind bars, according to the court. Contrary to what was requested by the federal prosecutor, the judges did not pronounce any detention.
All in all, A. received a prison sentence of 20 years – but this for a whole range of other crimes, including attempted murder. It was about an incident from November 2020, just two months after the bloody deed in Morges. In the Thun regional prison, the man attacked a guard and tried to ram a pen into his neck 12 times; fortunately the victim was only slightly injured.
The court came to the conclusion that he had planned the crime for weeks by repeatedly asking for pens that were actually forbidden. He also specifically selected the location of the attack. Again, he was inspired by an IS propaganda video when carrying out the crime and should have known that such an attack can be life-threatening. The fact that, as he said in the courtroom in December, that he only wanted to “put a few scratches” on the guard and “teach a lesson” for his disrespectful behavior, the court found “inconsistent and void”. On the contrary, he acted with particular unscrupulousness.
Stupid arson attack
The Federal Criminal Court also convicted him of attempted arson and attempted cause of an explosion, multiple promotion of the activities of the group “Islamic State”, production and storage of depictions of violence and violation of the Narcotics Act. Because of the unsuccessful arson attack, A. was arrested for the first time in April 2019.
However, his approach was rather clumsy. For almost an hour he had tried to set fire to a petrol station near his home in Prilly – without success. Only minor property damage resulted. However, he knew that the petrol pumps could explode and thus endanger the life and limb of others, according to the court.
The practicing Muslim, who was already on the radar of the intelligence service for his propaganda activities, was remanded in custody the day after the crime. He was not released again until July 2020, thanks to a psychiatric report and under strict security conditions. Obviously, imprisonment had not redeemed him. Because just three months later, A. committed the most serious crime – the deadly knife attack in the kebab restaurant.
* Name known to editors.