Switzerland Charges Woman From Zurich With 'Jihadi Traveling'

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Office of Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) said Thursday it had brought charges against a 30-year-old woman from the Zurich area under suspicion of "Jihadi travelling" and filed an indictment to the Federal Criminal Court.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office believes that in December 2015, the Swiss citizen had traveled illegally with her then-4-year-old child from Egypt to Greece in order to then travel to Syria via Turkey to join the Daesh terrorist group (banned in Russia and Switzerland). The accused was prevented from traveling by Greek authorities, and was arrested at Zurich airport in January 2016.

The OAG noted that it based its charges on the legal precedent set by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in February of this year, when the court upheld the conviction of a Jihadi traveler who had been planning to join Daesh in April 2015, but was also arrested at Zurich airport while boarding a plane.

The OAG will file the criminal application at the main hearing before the Federal District Court in Bellinzona, it said. The accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty by the court in a legally binding judgment, the office concluded.