The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has filed an appeal against the acquittal of two leaders of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland (ICCS) who had been accused of terrorist propaganda. A third defendant has appealed against his conviction,Swiss public broadcaster RTS reported on Friday. The attorney general decided to present an appeal to the Federal Court because the two first-instance acquittals “raise fundamental questions of criminal procedure”, according to his office. A procedural technicality led the Federal Criminal Court to acquit Nicolas Blancho, and president of the Islamic council,and its spokesman Qassim Illi. The two men were accused of broadcasting propaganda videos in support of the terrorist group al-Qaeda. The author of the films, Naïm Cherni, and was given a 20-month suspended prison sentence. He is appealing his conviction,ICCS secretary-general Ferah Ulucay told RTS. The three men in question bear declined to comment on the legal proceedings.
Source: swissinfo.ch