After three days of detention, Palestinian American journalist Ali Abunimah has confirmed that Swiss authorities have detained and released him.
In a social media post on Monday, Abunimah, the executive director of the publication Electronic Intifada, suggested that Switzerland had detained him because of his support for Palestinian rights.
“My ‘ crime’? Being a journalist who supports and defends Israel’s genocide, settler-colonial savagery, and those who support and abet it, he wrote.
Abunimah was detained in Zurich on Saturday, just before he was scheduled to deliver a speech there, causing outrage from Palestinian rights advocates.
The Swiss embassy in Washington, DC, did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
According to a report from the Reuters news agency on Sunday, the Swiss police cited a visa ban and other immigration-related measures as the reasons for Abunimah’s arrest.
The Palestinian American journalist claimed that when police interrogated him, they accused him of “offending against Swiss law” without making any specific charges.
He claimed that he was “locked up in a cell for 24 hours a day” and was unable to contact his family. He continued, noting that his phone was only returned at the airport gate for the flight to Istanbul.
Abunimah noted that Switzerland welcomed Israeli President Isaac Herzog to the World Economic Forum in Davos during the time he was imprisoned as a “dangerous criminal.”
Herzog has sparked controversy for his stance on Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more than 47, 000 Palestinians. He , previously said that there are no “uninvolved civilians” in Gaza.
Abunimah said, “This ordeal lasted three days, but that taste of prison was more than enough to leave me in even greater awe of the Palestinian heroes who endured years and months of imprisonment in the genocidal oppressor.”
More than ever, I am aware that all of our debts must be free and that they must continue to be our main priorities because we can never repay them.
I’m free! I posted this immediately after I touched down on the plane in Istanbul. I was handcuffed, in a small metal cage inside a windowless prison van, and was then led by police all the way to the airport on Monday evening. This is after three days and two… pic. twitter.com/S4BF2eEYYQ
Abunimah’s arrest was deemed an assault on free speech by experts at the UN.
Irene Khan, a UN special rapporteur for freedom of opinion and expression, described Abunimah’s arrest as “shocking news” on Saturday and urged his release.
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, also called for an investigation into the incident.
In a social media post, Albanese wrote that “the climate surrounding freedom of speech in Europe is becoming increasingly toxic.”
Abunimah’s arrest comes as a result of the UN’s review of the Gaza War, which some experts have characterized as a genocide, as a result of an increased clampdown on pro-Palestine voices in Europe.
German authorities detained British doctor Ghassan Abu Sittah, who had worked in Gaza, and blocked him entry in a conference held in April.
German authorities have also been accused of repressing protests throughout the conflict by activists.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) claimed that the British counterterrorism police carried out a “disturbing pattern of weaponizing counter-terrorism laws against reporters” when they raided Asa Winstanley’s home in October 2024.
Months earlier, British authorities held journalist Richard Medhurst, who is vocally critical of Israeli policies, for 24 hours as he arrived in London.
The “terrorism” investigation against him was extended until May, according to Medhurst on Saturday.
Source: Aljazeera
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