Swiss Probe Islamic Group Member’s ‘Propaganda’ Video

Swiss prosecutors say they have opened a criminal investigation against a senior member of a Muslim advocacy group over a video he made, allegedly for propaganda purposes, of a trip to Syria.

Federal prosecutors say the man — identified only as a German citizen and member of the board of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland — “is accused of having interviewed a senior member of the jihad umbrella organization Jaish al-Fatah, of which the Syrian al-Qaida branch Jabhat al-Nusra is also a member.”

In a statement Saturday, prosecutors said they launched the probe because he made the video “without explicitly distancing himself from al-Qaida activities in Syria.”

Federal prosecutors are currently engaged in 46 criminal proceedings “in conjunction with the topic of jihad-motivated terrorism,” primarily over suspected propaganda offenses.