On Monday, the parents of a Swiss jihadist appeared in court charged with financing terrorism. They were accused of sending more than CHF 50,000 to their son while he was in Syria, reported RTS.
Switzerland’s federal prosecutor accused the man’s 70 year old father and 60 year old mother of funding terrorism. The prosecutor described the CHF 50,000 sum as an enormous amount of money. CHF 40,000 to CHF 50,000 at that time in Syria was enough to buy buildings.
The 29 year old son of the accused left Geneva bound for Syria in 2015 to join the terrorist group islamic state. His parents sent him more than CHF 50,000 money between 2016 and 2019. The prosecutor said that his parents must have known he was a terrorist fighter. He sent them photos of himself dressed in military clothing carrying arms with the islamic state flag. He also told them that the organisation was financing everything, according to messages intercepted by the authorities.
Lawyers of the accused rejected the allegations, arguing that the money was sent to cover his daily expenses, as well as those of his wife and child. In addition, the last payment of CHF 44,000 was sent to cover the costs of getting the family out of the country after the fall of islamic state, said the lawyers. They also said that the parents had never followed the radical ideology of islamic state and that they are Christians who remain shocked by the radicalisation of their son.
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RTS article (in French) – Take a 5 minute French test now
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