Focus on the fight against terrorism
In 2014, the activities of the Federal Office of Police fedpol focused primarily on combating terrorism. The Federal Office heads the "Terrorist Travellers Task Force" created in 2014. Its main objective is to prevent terrorist crimes in Switzerland and the export of terrorism from Switzerland to conflict regions. Other areas of focus for fedpol included investigations into suspected members of criminal organizations, as well as processing reports of money laundering.
Although Switzerland is not a priority target of Islamist terrorism, fedpol had to deal with the increased general threat of jihadist-motivated terrorism in 2014 as well. The primary goal is to prevent terrorist attacks in Switzerland. Furthermore, Switzerland should not serve as a financial and logistical base for the planning and execution of such acts, nor as a transit, origin or destination country for jihadist-motivated travelers, according to the statement.
Measures against terrorism: task force set up
Due to the development of the threat situation in Europe, Parliament, the Federal Council and the various authorities involved in counterterrorism decided on various measures in the reporting year. On January 1, 2015, the urgent "Federal Law on the Prohibition of the Al-Qaeda and Islamic State Groups and Related Organizations" entered into force; in the fall of 2014, an interdepartmental "Terrorist Travellers Task Force" was set up under the leadership of fedpol (see report of February 26, 2015).
In its role as the federal judicial police, fedpol investigated several cases on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland in 2014 of individuals suspected of supporting, belonging to or seeking to join jihadist-motivated terrorist organizations.
Propaganda and radicalization via the Internet
The Internet and various social media platforms play a central role in propaganda by jihadist-terrorist groups and in the radicalization of young sympathizers in particular, the Federal Office stresses. As in previous years, fedpol intensively monitors suspected jihadist-terrorist activities on the Internet in Switzerland. Constructive dialogue and cooperation between fedpol and Internet providers are indispensable for successfully combating the activities of jihadist extremists on the Internet.
In addition to combating jihadist activities in the virtual space, fedpol was also involved in 2014 with other forms of Cybercrime employed.
For more information on federal crime fighting, see the fedpol annual report to be taken from the annual report. The statistics for the annual report are here to find.
