On Thursday, June 21, 2007, Switzerland’s first Internet-based terror trial came to a close when the Swiss Federal Criminal Court convicted two individuals of supporting Islamist radicalism via the Internet. The conviction of Moez Garsallaoui and his wife, Malika El Aroud, marks the first successful case against individuals’ accused of promoting terrorism in Switzerland. The arrest and subsequent conviction of the two reflects Switzerland’s increasing anti-terrorism tactics. In recent months, akin to neighboring European Union member states, Swiss authorities have heightened security measures citing increased threats of internationally coordinated terrorist attacks.
Two Terrorist Supporters Convicted
In Switzerland’s inaugural Internet-based terrorism trial, Tunisian Moez Garsallaoui and his Belgian-born wife, Malika El Aroud, were convicted of running websites that supported terrorism and provided detailed instructions in how to create bombs and carry out terrorist attacks. In addition, the court convicted Garsallaoui of publicly inciting criminal acts and racial violence, as well as the manufacture, concealment, and transfer of explosives and poisonous gases. Garsallaoui and El Aroud both pled innocent to the charges brought against them. Swiss authorities arrested and detained the two in anti-terror raids in February 2005 and shortly thereafter shutdown their jihadist websites.
Malika El Aroud, who was convicted of aiding and abetting in the operation of jihadist websites, is the widow of an alleged al-Qaeda suicide attacker responsible for the September 9, 2001, death of Ahmed Shah Massoud, an anti-Taliban Afghan leader.
On June 21, 2007, the Swiss Federal Criminal Court handed Garsallaoui six-months in prison and an additional 18 months suspended sentence. El Aroud received a six-month prison sentence suspended for three years.
Websites Promote Terrorism
Despite entering a not-guilty plea, Garsallaoui acknowledged the presence of violence contained on the websites – including alleged military actions against Iraqi civilians by US soldiers. Additionally, Garsallaoui was ultimately convicted of running a number of websites wherein he provided discussion forums for terrorist organizations. The websites and forums, purportedly visited by approximately 2,000 individuals, were employed to publicize claims of responsibility for terrorist attacks and further threats directed at Western countries, as well as provided a venue to post gruesome beheading videos – including the 2004 beheading of kidnapped American engineer Paul M. Johnson Jr. in Saudi Arabia.
Terrorism Supporters Plague Europe
The June 2007 conviction of Garsallaoui and El Aroud is the first of its kind in Switzerland. However, it is not the first we have seen in Europe. As we previously reported, on April 11, 2007, a Danish court sentenced Moroccan-born Danish citizen, Said Mansour, to three and one half years in prison for inciting terrorism. During the investigation into Said Mansour’s operations, Danish police seized approximately 3,000 CD-ROMs and roughly 500 computer disks from his home. Many of the items contained inflammatory jihadist propaganda and likewise disturbing images of hostage executions in Afghanistan and Chechnya.
A similar case is occurring in the UK as British officials push for the extradition of UK resident and suspected terrorist, Babar Ahmad, to the United States on charges, that he, via the creation and use of various Internet sites, emails, and other web-based means, provided expertise and assistance, communications equipment, military materials, financial assistance, and personnel designed to recruit and assist the Chechen mujahideen and the Afghan-based Taliban.
Future Outlook
The recent arrests and subsequent convictions of individuals suspected of assisting or promoting Islamist terrorism throughout Europe underscore the cultivation of intricate extremist networks within individual European nations, such as Denmark and the UK, and across the region.
As it allows individuals to communicate with each other with relative ease, the Internet is an attractive medium for those who engage in terrorist attacks as well as those who support them.
As increased legislation and monitoring of terrorists activities—including use of the Internet—continue, additional suspects will be apprehended. We believe as time progresses European officials will likely continue to uncover, detain, arrest, and convict individuals connected to transnational extremist terrorist networks.
