Switzerland has decided that in lieu of sending a returned jihadist — the first ever to be tried in a Swiss court — to jail, the reformed militant must perform 600 hours of community service and work on an art project instead.
The man, whose name has not been made public, reportedly joined Islamic State militants in Syria in December 2013, but changed his mind within weeks and returned to Switzerland early this year.
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In announcing the ruling Wednesday, Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber told local media the man was guilty of “participating in a criminal organization” and “serving in a foreign military.” The defendant was given a suspended sentence of 600 hours of community service and ordered to pay 4,700 Swiss francs ($4,900) in legal fees. He must also submit to ongoing psychiatric assessment.
The most unusual part of the ruling came when prosecutors ordered the repentant jihadist to, “put together a photographic essay around the theme: Signs of Peace.”
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The Swiss prosecutor’s office heard that the defendant flew from Lyon, France, to Istanbul, Turkey, last December, where he boarded a bus to the Turkish province of Hatay, on the Syrian border. The man then crossed into Syria with a group of 15 people, including two French Islamic State recruits — one of them a minor.
But after just two weeks spent in a French-speaking militant training camp southwest of Aleppo, the man began to have second thoughts. According to the ruling, the man was ordered to perform menial tasks and to stand guard at the camp two to three times a day, on top of hours of weapons training.
The defendant was also, “shocked to find out that the group were planning to use ambulances in suicide attacks,” the prosecutor said in the ruling.
Things went from bad to worse for the aspiring Swiss jihadist when camp officials found him in possession of images that were “homosexual in their nature,” the ruling revealed. Militants then interrogated and beat the defendant and detained him for 54 days in a Raqqa prison. The man said he was eventually released by the militants and was able to cross the border back into Turkey on March 15, according to the ruling.
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A Swiss terrorism analyst told VICE News that he believes the sentencing in this case is appropriate, given the man had expressed regret over his decision and cooperated fully with authorities.
“He’s an unusual young man, with a surprising background,” Jean-Paul Rouiller, director of the Geneva Center for Training and Analysis of Terrorism, said of the defendant. “I think it’s a very astute ruling considering his potential for rehabilitation.”
Generally speaking, Rouiller said he believes sentences given to suspected terrorists in the country are too mild and inadequate. In Switzerland, the maximum sentence for joining a criminal organization and planning criminal activity is five years in jail.
Other European countries hand out much stricter punishments to returning jihadists. In France, a Paris court sentenced Flavien Moreau, a young returning jihadist who denied taking part in any fighting, to seven years in prison without parole on October 17.
Rouiller estimated there are around 30 Swiss nationals currently fighting alongside Islamist militants in Syria, and just as many fighting with Kurdish forces against the extremist group.
Psychological rehabilitation for returning fighters is an important aspect of sentencing, Rouiller said, in order to bring alienated youths back into the folds of society and prevent them from reoffending.
“Psychological counseling is key, as these kids often come back with post-traumatic stress disorder,” Rouiller said. “Society has to provide answers, like how to rehabilitate them, how to give them a goal, an aim, a reason not to fall back [on terrorism].”
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Follow Virgile Dall’ Armellina on Twitter: @armellina
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