Although he was convicted of attempted murder, supporting a terrorist organization, repeatedly inciting hatred based on ethnicity or religion, and disseminating violent extremist material, the maximum one-year juvenile prison sentence was commuted to compulsory mental care because he was 15 years old at the time of the attack.
According to prosecutors, the teenager rapidly became radicalized after Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. Investigators say he began consuming ISIS propaganda, searching for bomb-making manuals and terrorist tactics online, and communicating with another extremist about how to build explosives before deciding that a knife attack would be easier.
The indictment states that he bought a butcher’s knife the day before the attack, researched synagogue prayer times on social media and set out with the intention of “killing as many Jews as possible.” He also planned to die at the hands of police as a “martyr” in order to reach paradise.
On the day of the attack, the suspect reportedly livestreamed his journey to the synagogue. A technical failure meant only the audio was recorded. In the recording, he can be heard saying the synagogue door was locked and that he would wait for someone to come out. Moments later he says, “Now I have one,” before screams, shouts of “Allahu Akbar,” and the sounds of the attack are heard.
Prosecutors say he ambushed the victim from behind, stabbing him repeatedly in the neck and head before attempting to slit his throat. The victim was stabbed 17 times, managed to run into the street, but was chased and attacked again until bystanders overpowered the suspect on the hood of a car stopped at a red light. The victim suffered severe lung injuries and survived only after emergency surgery.
During the trial, the defendant refused to answer the judge’s questions, responding only with “No comment.” His defense had requested a six-month sentence and acquittal on the attempted murder charges.
The case has sparked widespread criticism in Switzerland because juvenile law prioritizes rehabilitation over punishment, limiting prison sentences even for terrorism-related offenses. Swiss lawmakers have since proposed legal reforms that would allow harsher penalties for minors convicted of terrorist crimes, but those changes have not yet been passed.
The court did not revoke the attacker’s Swiss citizenship as part of its ruling. Although prosecutors had sought to strip him of his Swiss nationality, the court instead commuted his one-year juvenile prison sentence to compulsory mental care.
