Switzerland: 11-year-old Muslim boy questioned by police over online contact with jihadis

They should also be wondering to what extent the jihadis’ message is echoed at his local mosque and in his Muslim community. But they almost certainly won’t do that.

“11-year-old in Valais suspected of terrorism,” translated from “11-Jähriger im Wallis unter Terrorismusverdacht,” by Daniel Glaus, Marc Menichini and Myriam Reinhard, SRF, September 6, 2024 (thanks to Medforth):

It is the lowest point so far in a whole series of cases since the beginning of the year: increasingly younger people are obviously responding to Islamist propaganda, as the Swiss security authorities have repeatedly emphasized.

The Sion Youth Court has now confirmed research by SRF and RTS, according to which the police intervened with an 11-year-old at the beginning of June. The boy was questioned by the cantonal police in connection with the publication of “racist and discriminatory content on social media,” according to the Youth Court.

The 11-year-old admitted to having been in contact with people abroad who were presumably close to extremist movements. The juvenile court did not specify which movements were meant. However, according to information from RTS and SRF, the authorities assume a clearly Islamist-jihadist context.

In the cases of Islamist radicalized youths that have become public in Switzerland since January 2024, the youngest person was 14 years old.

The Valais authorities have opened proceedings under juvenile criminal law against the 11-year-old, whose nationality they do not state. The presumption of innocence applies. The youth is at large and socio-educational measures have apparently been initiated. The extent to which the youth is radicalized seems to be an open question for the Valais authorities. This has not yet been apparent. According to the juvenile court, further investigations are underway.

It is possible that the 11-year-old came into contact with radical Islamist content very quickly on social media, which is how connections to extremists abroad were formed and the young person then spread the relevant content. Such developments have been heard time and again from experts recently.

Conspicuous behavior with extremist content, such as swastika graffiti in school buildings or Islamist slogans on playgrounds, occurs again and again, according to experts. There are dozens of cases involving young people – mostly from the age of 14 – which are then often clarified. In the Valais case, too, the question arises as to why the boy posted these messages and whether there is a risk that he could resort to violent acts. Juvenile forensic reports may be required for this.

It seems clear that the authorities became aware of the posts by the 11-year-old Valais boy and decided to intervene. This is probably also against the backdrop of a recent increase in the threat of terrorism, which, according to the authorities, is posed by jihadist propaganda, such as an “Islamic State” (IS).

It has already been shown several times across Europe that this propaganda also appeals to very young people, who spread the content, sometimes start planning attacks or even take action.