SHARE
COPY LINK

TERRORISM

French terror suspect deported from Switzerland

A Frenchwoman suspected of being a threat to Switzerland’s security was arrested and deported from the country in March, police have said.

French terror suspect deported from Switzerland
Speaking to news agencies on Friday, Cathy Maret, a spokeswoman for Swiss federal police (Fedpol), confirmed that the Frenchwoman was also banned from re-entering Switzerland.
 
“This measure was imposed in the context of jihadist terrorism,” she said. 
 
The woman was arrested in the canton of Vaud in March. 
 
The French authorities were informed of the deportation, said Maret. 
 
No further details were given as to the woman’s alleged connection to terrorism.
 
The woman's arrest was not thought to be connected to the arrest of four other people in recent months — one in Geneva and three in Vaud
 
 
Switzerland so far hasn’t experienced the sort of terror attack that has occurred across Europe, most recently in Manchester and London in the UK. 
 
But in May the country’s defence minister spoke of an elevated threat, saying “the question isn’t if an attack will take place in Switzerland, but when”.
 
The country’s precautions include tightened security at festivals and large events including this week’s Festival de la Cité in the Vaud town of Lausanne where concrete blocks have been erected across the Bessières bridge to prevent the sort of truck attack that devastated the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice last year. 
 
Speaking to the press, Lausanne’s security director said the presence of the blocks wasn’t a reflection of a heightened threat to the city but about public reassurance. 
 

CRIME

Hoax bomb threats against French airports ‘traced to Swiss email’

Repeated bomb threats against dozens of French airports which led to evacuations and flight cancellations have been 'traced to an email address in Switzerland', according to French authorities.

Hoax bomb threats against French airports 'traced to Swiss email'

More than 70 bomb threats have been made against French airports in the past week, leading to evacuations at dozens of airports and at least 130 flights cancelled.

Most of the alerts were triggered by emails warning of a bomb in the airport – more than 70 such emails have been received by airports around the country such as Toulouse, Bordeaux, Paris Beauvais, Marseille and dozens of smaller airports – including Basel-Mulhouse on the Franco-Swiss border. 

On Sunday French Transport Minister Clément Beaune said that “almost all of the threats have been traced to the same email address, situated in Switzerland”.

He added: “Since Wednesday, it is almost always the same email address that is used, located outside the European Union, in Switzerland”.

He called on hosting sites to help the French authorities, saying: “Everyone has a responsibility, including the platforms and social networks, not to support this kind of attack and to cooperate as quickly as possible with the French civil aviation authorities and our justice system.”

In France, the maximum penalty for making a hoax bomb threat is two years in jail and a €30,000 fine.

As well as airport evacuations and flight disruption, French tourist sites have also been hit with bomb hoaxes – the Palace of Versailles has been evacuated seven times in the past week.

It comes in the context of a tense situation in France as the country raised its terror alert to maximum after an apparent Islamist attack on Friday, October 13th in which a teacher was killed and two others wounded.

Security at large events such as the Rugby World Cup matches has been stepped up. 

SHOW COMMENTS