Swiss court acquits Kurdish man of spying for Turkey

Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court has acquitted a Kurdish man of conducting aggravated political intelligence activity on behalf of Turkey, SRF reports. The court said key evidence could not be used.

The man was accused of sending emails and text messages related to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, to Turkish intelligence and state security authorities between July 2018 and May 2019. He was also alleged to have spoken with a Turkish police department and passed on information.

The court said key evidence, including the man’s mobile phone, had been obtained unlawfully, in part in connection with his deprivation of liberty by private individuals. It deemed the evidence unusable because the overall case did not establish a serious offence.

The court fined him conditionally for intentionally working without a permit. The ruling is not yet final.

The case followed years of conflict within the Kurdish community in Switzerland. According to reporting by Tamedia, the man was beaten by other Kurds in Biel in May 2019 and locked in a freezer room after being accused of betrayal. His attackers took his phone and later handed it to police. Four of them were subsequently convicted of unlawful detention, and those convictions became final.

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office relied heavily on data from the phone in bringing the espionage case and sought a prison sentence of five years and two months. The accused denied the allegations.