Far more than propaganda
Malik* came onto fedpol's radar in 2019, as fedpol suspected that Malik moved in radicalised circles. He claimed to have only a supporting role, to be a follower. fedpol saw things differently: Malik was instrumental in spreading IS propaganda, especially in cyberspace.
Winterthur, 2019: a meeting among acquaintances who are all of interest to fedpol. There are indications that the participants are exchanging radical ideas and distributing banned propaganda material. Investigations are underway against some of them for supporting Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
fedpol has information that Malik is primarily responsible for the propaganda material and is familiar with IT programmes. Editing video, photoshopping images and inserting logos come easy to him. These skills are useful for making IS and Al-Qaeda content presentable. Malik seems to be investing a lot of time in his products. There is word that he has even set up his own media agency and posted his photos and videos on social media, including Instagram, Telegram and YouTube.
The Austrian police have also become aware of Malik’s online propaganda through Naima*. The Austrian police arrested her in 2019, when she was still a minor, preventing her from travelling to Syria to join the jihad. It is believed that Naima had been encouraged in her desire to travel to Syria by none other than Malik.
fedpol and the Austrian police are interested in finding out how Naima and Malik knew each other. They had no friends in common; they had never met in person; nor did they need to, since it was apparently an algorithm that brought the two together: Naima was recommended to check out Malik's propaganda content on Instagram because of their shared interests.
Shortly after Naima's arrest in Austria, Malik is arrested in Switzerland. Experience shows that the girl is not an isolated case.
Stop radicalisation
The new National Action Plan (NAP) against radicalisation and violent extremism was adopted at the end of 2022, under the leadership of the Swiss Security Network and in cooperation with fedpol, the Federal Intelligence Service and the cantons. The new NAP (2023 to 2027) addresses all forms of radicalisation. A particular focus is on preventing the radicalisation of young people and on using the internet and social media sensibly. The goal of the measures adopted is to prevent radicalised individuals from committing violent acts and reintegrating them as quickly as possible into a liberal society.
In 2022, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland charged Malik not only with spreading banned propaganda, but also with collecting money on a donation platform in order to send it to IS exponents in a prison camp in Syria. The donations were intended to help them escape from the camp.
Malik’s trial will begin in mid-2023. The court has yet to pass judgment. Until then, the presumption of innocence applies.
*Names have been changed
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