- The death of the asylum seeker who held 13 people captive on a train near Yverdon VD on February 8th is seen by his family as an “injustice”.
- She has therefore filed a complaint with the Vaud public prosecutor’s office.
- This was reported by RTS television in western Switzerland.
The information was confirmed by the Attorney General of the Canton of Vaud, Eric Kaltenrieder, to the Keystone-SDA news agency early in the evening. The family filed a criminal complaint on February 15th and thus gained the status of a private plaintiff in the proceedings. No further information can be provided at this time.
13 passengers held hostage
On February 9th, the 32-year-old asylum seeker took twelve passengers and the train driver hostage on a regional train in the canton of Vaud. The hostage-taking lasted over three and a half hours. The 32-year-old asylum seeker of Iranian nationality, who defended himself against a Taser shot, was ultimately shot by a police officer and died at the scene.
The brother of the hostage taker, who was reached by telephone in Iran, explained on television in western Switzerland that the family did not support the crime, but that the 32-year-old still did not deserve to be killed.
During the hostage-taking, the perpetrator demanded a visit from an employee of an asylum center. Relatives in Switzerland say he developed a delusional obsession with this woman. An acquaintance also confirmed this to the SRF Tagesschau, whom he contacted via video call during the crime.
Even while he was receiving psychiatric care in the asylum center in the Geneva Palexpo complex where he lived, he became at risk of suicide. Two days before the crime, he knocked over a table during a seizure. He complained that he could not see his child who remained in Iran. The family now wants the body to be returned as soon as possible.
The federal government and the cantons demand that mental health problems be recognized
According to Neuchâtel co-president of the cantonal justice and police directors Alain Ribaux, the fact that individuals in the asylum process could be mentally unstable and therefore a danger is not taken into enough account in the asylum process. “We have focused heavily on the radicalization of certain asylum seekers. We remember: a few years ago there were terrorist events in France, Germany and the Netherlands, and it was said that this could also happen in Switzerland.”
However, little has been said about people with mental problems and the danger they could pose, Ribaux tells SRF. The federal government and the cantons are required to ensure that a threat can be identified in good time. “The federal government is responsible for registration and reception. It’s about identifying problems. After that, when the asylum seekers are assigned to a canton, they have to be accompanied.”
In 2022, the hostage taker arrived at the Boudry federal asylum center in the canton of Neuchâtel before being assigned to the canton of Geneva. The State Secretariat for Migration SEM says today that they take psychological problems of asylum seekers very seriously – for the person themselves and also because of security. Psychological consultations are voluntary.