Criminal proceedings against suspected Russian traffickers
Published: Tuesday, Jul 9th 2024, 10:10
Volver a Live Feed
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland is conducting criminal proceedings against five members of a suspected Russian smuggling gang. The Chechens, who are Russian nationals, are alleged to have smuggled other Russian citizens through Switzerland and other countries and brought them to France. According to media reports, they wanted to escape a military operation in Ukraine.
The Swiss and French authorities are working together in a special investigative team, as the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland informed the Keystone-SDA news agency on Tuesday. This confirmed reports in the CH-Media newspapers. The Federal Office of Police (fedpol) also supported the French prosecution authorities.
The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland has opened its own criminal proceedings against five Russian nationals on suspicion of promoting unlawful entry and exit as well as unlawful residence, the authorities announced. "The cooperation between the two countries was very close and constructive", the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland praised the French authorities.
Last year, the French judiciary launched an investigation into a network of Chechens of Russian nationality with residence permits in France, according to a letter from the Lille public prosecutor's office dated June 3.
According to the report, the French police arrested eleven people in and around the city of Reims on May 28 last year. Nine people were remanded in custody.
The suspected traffickers are accused of transporting at least 250 to 300 Chechens in minibuses through Europe to France for several thousand francs, the CH-Media newspapers reported on Tuesday. They had been granted asylum in France.
©Keystone/SDA
Spanish 
English 
German 
French 
Arabic