Washington, DC – Palestinian American journalist Ali Abunimah has confirmed that Swiss authorities have launched and deported him after holding him for 3 days.
Abunimah, the chief director of the Digital Intifada publication, urged in a social media submit on Monday that Switzerland detained him due to his advocacy for Palestinian rights.
“My ‘crime’? Being a journalist who speaks up for Palestine and towards Israel’s genocide and settler-colonial savagery and people who support and abet it,” he wrote.
Abunimah was arrested in Zurich on Saturday earlier than he was set to ship a speech within the metropolis, sparking outrage from Palestinian rights advocates.
The Swiss embassy in Washington, DC, didn’t instantly reply to Al Jazeera’s request for remark.
The Reuters information company reported on Sunday that the Swiss police cited an entry ban and different measures beneath the nation’s immigration regulation as the explanation for Abunimah’s arrest.
The Palestinian American journalist mentioned that, when he was questioned by law enforcement officials, they accused him of “offending towards Swiss regulation” with out offering particular fees.
He mentioned he was “lower off from communication with the surface world, in a cell 24 hours a day”, including that he was unable to contact his household. He added that he was solely given again his cellphone on the gate of the aircraft that flew him to Istanbul.
Abunimah famous that, throughout the interval when he was taken to jail like a “harmful legal”, Switzerland welcomed Israeli President Isaac Herzog to the World Financial Discussion board in Davos.
Herzog has sparked controversy for his stance on Israel’s battle on Gaza, which has killed greater than 47,000 Palestinians. He beforehand mentioned that there aren’t any “uninvolved civilians” in Gaza.
“This ordeal lasted three days however that style of jail was greater than sufficient to depart me in even higher awe of the Palestinian heroes who endure months and years within the prisons of the genocidal oppressor,” Abunimah mentioned.
“Greater than ever, I do know that the debt we owe them is one we are able to by no means repay and all of them have to be free they usually should stay our focus.”
I’m free! I wrote this on the aircraft and I’m posting it simply after touchdown at Istanbul. On Monday night I used to be delivered to Zurich airport in handcuffs, in a small metallic cage inside a windowless jail van and led all the best way to the aircraft by police. That is after three days and two… pic.twitter.com/S4BF2eEYYQ
— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) January 27, 2025
United Nations specialists had decried Abunimah’s detention as an assault on free speech.
Irene Khan, a UN particular rapporteur for freedom of opinion and expression, described Abunimah’s arrest as “surprising information” on Saturday and urged his launch.
Francesca Albanese, the UN particular rapporteur on human rights within the occupied Palestinian territories, additionally known as for an investigation into the incident.
“The local weather surrounding freedom of speech in Europe is turning into more and more poisonous, and we must always all be involved,” Albanese wrote in a social media submit.
Abunimah’s detention got here amid an elevated clampdown on pro-Palestine voices in Europe amid the battle on Gaza, which UN specialists have in contrast with genocide.
In April, Germany shut down a convention for Palestinian rights advocates and denied entry to the British physician Ghassan Abu Sittah, who had labored in Gaza.
Activists have additionally accused German authorities of cracking down on protests all through the battle.
In October 2024, British counterterrorism police raided the house of Abunimah’s Digital Intifada colleague Asa Winstanley — an incident that the Committee to Defend Journalists (CPJ) mentioned was a part of a “disturbing sample of weaponizing counter-terrorism legal guidelines towards reporters”.
Months earlier, British authorities held journalist Richard Medhurst, who’s vocally crucial of Israeli insurance policies, for twenty-four hours as he arrived in London.
Medhurst mentioned on Saturday that the “terrorism” investigation towards him was prolonged till Could.
In Gaza, Israel has killed 205 journalists for the reason that begin of the battle in October 2023, in response to native authorities.