2024 - Federal Criminal Court - Propaganda for terrorist militia: Schaffhausen IS supporters convicted

The 26-year-old saved brutal videos of executions and child soldiers on his cell phone.
The Federal Criminal Court now finds the man from Schaffhausen guilty: he has to go to prison for seven months.
He must serve another 21 months in prison if he fails to prove himself in a probationary period.

Radicalized minors, jihad travelers or hate preachers: for years, a group of Islamists from Winterthur made headlines with such incidents. The events turned the city into a Swiss “Islamist stronghold”.

Various incidents ended up before the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona. Now this has again dealt with an IS supporter who was associated with the Winterthur scene. It is a young Schaffhausener. The court has now convicted him of various charges.

Planned trip to Syria

The public prosecutor has accused the 26-year-old of multiple violations of IS law. For example, he encouraged a minor in her stance on the Islamic State terrorist militia. The shared chat history on social media proves this.

According to the prosecutor, the accused urged the young woman to marry. After that he wanted to travel with her to Syria for jihad. This would testify to statements by the Austrian that were “very credible”.

The law bans the groups al-Qaeda, Islamic State and related organizations.
Anyone involved in this in Switzerland must expect a prison sentence of up to five years or a fine.
This also applies, for example, if someone supports the groups with propaganda campaigns or recruits them.

The public prosecutor also accused the Schaffhausen resident of producing and distributing propaganda material for IS. He has videos and photos of violent scenes on his cell phone. They would show gruesome scenes – such as executions or child soldiers.

Surroundings of the Islamist scene in Winterthur

The accused said at the trial that he wanted to be part of these representations. He was referring to his environment in the Winterthur Islamist scene. That one also comes from this group Siblings who traveled to Syria in 2014. The accused was apparently in contact with his brother.

Assessment by Daniel Glaus, SRF editor for extremism:

“The federal prosecutor said clearly during the trial that IS was far from defeated. I see that in my research too.

The convict was arrested in October 2019 in the course of large-scale raids on the Islamist scene in Winterthur. However, this did not disband this group. New criminal proceedings were opened again in 2022 against several people who were already active at the time. So individual raids are not enough.

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office is constantly conducting around 70 criminal proceedings relating to IS cases. It turns out that there are also unteachable people in Winterthur who continue despite convictions. There is a risk that jihadist radicalization will continue to ferment beneath the surface.”

The accused admitted at the trial that he produced and distributed propaganda material. He denied the allegations about the underage Austrian. He did not support them to join the Islamic State. Although he wanted to marry her – but to dissuade her from the IS ideology. He also never planned to go with her to jihad in Syria.

Legend:

The Federal Criminal Court sentenced the man from Schaffhausen to a partially conditional prison sentence of 28 months. He has to go to prison for seven months.

Keystone/Ti Press/Alessandro Crinari

The Federal Criminal Court did not believe him. It found the accused guilty of multiple violations of IS law. And also convicted him of multiple possession of violent images. According to the court, he did not produce these scenes.

The man from Schaffhausen now has to go to prison for seven months, taking into account his pre-trial detention. He must serve another 21 months in prison if he fails to prove himself in a probationary period. The court refrained from expelling him from the country.