Calling the arrest of the Electronic Intifada website’s founder ‘shocking,’ they say the ‘climate surrounding freedom of speech in Europe is becoming increasingly toxic.’
United Nations human rights experts and activists have condemned the arrest of a prominent Palestinian journalist in the Swiss city of Zurich, saying it raised concerns about freedom of speech.
Ali Abunimah – the executive director of online publication Electronic Intifada, which calls itself “Palestine’s weapon of mass instruction” – was arrested by Swiss police on Saturday before his speech in Zurich, the website said in a statement.
Swiss police confirmed that the 53-year-old American citizen had been arrested. They cited an entry ban and said further measures under its immigration law were being considered.
The UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Irene Khan, posted on the X social media platform on Sunday that the arrest was “shocking news” and urged Switzerland to investigate and release him.
“The climate surrounding freedom of speech in Europe is becoming increasingly toxic, and we should all be concerned,” said Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied territories.
Pro-Palestinian advocacy group Swiss Action for Human Rights petitioned to release Abunimah on Sunday.
A spokesperson for the United States embassy in Bern said it was providing appropriate consular assistance after seeing reports of the arrest of a US citizen, declining further comment.
