Police knew Electronic Intifada journalist ‘posed no threat whatsoever’, but violently arrested him anyway

Electronic Intifada executive director Ali Abunimah is taking legal action in Switzerland over his violent and unjustified arrest there last month. And he has revealed that:

the files my lawyers have obtained so far through the legal process prove that Switzerland’s federal police and intelligence service had already determined that I posed no threat whatsoever to the country’s “internal or external” security before authorities ordered my violent arrest, unlawful detention and expulsion.

The Swiss authorities already faced demands for “an apology and reparations” after its highly controversial political decision to detain the anti-genocide journalist. But now, his fundraising page states that his legal team has:

filed an appeal against my unlawful detention, and we are preparing strong legal action against other violations of my basic rights and the right to free speech.

They believe that:

Swiss authorities violated the laws and constitution of Switzerland and fundamental rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights, to which Switzerland is a signatory.

And as Abunimah insists:

This attack on my personal liberty, the rights to free expression and association, and the freedom of the press cannot be allowed to stand.

Ali Abunimah: political policing on behalf of genocidal war criminals

Ali Abunimah is clear that his opposition to the genocide Israel has been carrying out against the Palestinian people is the key reason for his unwarranted detention:

Swiss authorities violated my fundamental human rights, just to prevent me from speaking the truth about the crimes being perpetrated against the Palestinian people by a state that stands accused of genocide before the International Court of Justice.

The Electronic Intifada has reported that “official documents” show Swiss authorities actually “rejected a request” to stop Abunimah coming to the country. An assessment from the federal police (Fedpol) said the journalist’s posts on X were “protected by freedom of speech”. However:

this decision was hastily overturned, possibly due to political interference.

It added that, according to Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger:

email correspondence between an airport police officer and the Zurich immigration authorities suggests that pressure may have come from a senior pro-Israel Zurich politician.

That politician was apparently Mario Fehr, a man who spread lies about Abunimah following his arrest, has spoken at pro-Israel events, and has a record of pro-Israel fanaticism.

We must resist Western attacks on “free speech, independent journalism, and protest”

Anti-genocide journalists have faced persecution in Britain too, including Richard Medhurst, Asa Winstanley, and Sarah Wilkinson. And other reporters have faced surveillance and cyberattacks. This is perhaps no surprise from a country that tortured WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for over a decade. As the Canary reported in 2024:

Assange spent most of the last 14 years either holed up in the Ecuadoran embassy in London to avoid arrest, or locked up at Belmarsh Prison. He was released under a plea bargain in June, after serving a sentence for publishing hundreds of thousands of confidential US government documents.

Addressing the Council of Europe rights body, Assange said:

I am not free today because the system worked. I am free today after years of incarceration because I pleaded guilty to journalism.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), meanwhile, said Assange’s persecution had a “chilling effect on human rights”.

Today, meanwhile, the British state is holding dozens of non-violent political prisoners from Palestine Action and Just Stop Oil, in the service of genocidal and ecocidal corporate interests.

Ali Abunimah, however, still has faith that “Switzerland’s independent judiciary is capable of delivering justice”. And he highlights the importance of that happening, saying:

If authorities can throw me in prison to stop an educational event about Palestine, they can do it to anyone for any reason — effectively canceling free speech, independent journalism and protest.

You can support his crowdfunding efforts here.

Featured image via the Canary