Palestinian journalist Ali Abunimah released and deported by Swiss authorities

Journalist Ali Abunimah has been released from detention by Swiss authorities and deported from the country after being held for three days, the American-Palestinian journalist said on Monday evening. 

Abunimah, the executive director of the online news site Electronic Intifida, was detained by Swiss authorities on Saturday ahead of a planned speaking event in Zurich, sparking condemnation by activists and UN experts.

"On Monday evening I was brought to Zurich airport in handcuffs, in a small metal cage inside a windowless prison van and led all the way to the plane by police," he wrote on X. 

"This is after three days and two nights in a Swiss prison cut off from communication with the outside world, in a cell 24 hours a day with one cell mate, not even permitted to contact my family."

He said he was accused of "offending Swiss law", without being given any specific charges. The journalist said he believed his crime was "being a journalist who speaks up for Palestine and against Israel’s genocide". 

Electronic Intifada is a US-based website founded in 2001 that describes itself as “an independent online news publication focusing on Palestine”.

Citing an entry ban, Swiss police said over the weekend that a 53-year-old American had been detained, and that further measures were being considered under its immigration laws. 

'Increasingly toxic'

Irene Khan, the UN's special rapporteur on freedom of expression, described the arrest as "shocking news" and called for the journalist's release. 

Francesca Albanese, the UN's special rapporteur on occupied Palestine, said: "The climate surrounding freedom of speech in Europe is becoming increasingly toxic, and we should all be concerned."

Abunimah said that he was "hauled off to prison like a dangerous criminal", while Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, who said at the start of the war that there were no civilians in Gaza, "received a red carpet welcome in Davos". 

"Journalism is not a crime! Speaking out for Palestine is not a crime! Standing against racist genocidal Zionism is not a crime!" he said. 

I’m free! I wrote this on the plane and I’m posting it just after landing at Istanbul. On Monday evening I was brought to Zurich airport in handcuffs, in a small metal cage inside a windowless prison van and led all the way to the plane by police. This is after three days and two… pic.twitter.com/S4BF2eEYYQ

— Ali Abunimah (@AliAbunimah) January 27, 2025

In October, Asa Winstanley, an associate editor at Electronic Intifida, said 10 British police officers raided his home. 

Winstanley was not arrested or charged with any offence, but police confiscated his electronic devices, Electronic Intifida said at the time. 

Citing a letter addressed to Winstanley from “Counter Terror Command”, the website said he had been told he was being investigated for offences under the Terrorism Act connected to his social media posts.

It said police were "aware of [Winstanley's] profession" as a journalist.

The letter cited “possible offences” under sections 1 and 2 of the Terrorism Act, relating to the offence of “encouragement of terrorism”. It said the raid had been conducted as part of an operation codenamed “Operation Incessantness”.

The Metropolitan Police told Middle East Eye that counter-terrorism officers had searched an address in Wembley, north London, and seized electronic devices as part of an investigation into suspected terrorism offences of "support for a proscribed organisation" and "dissemination of terrorist documents".