Assassination of an Egyptian diplomat in Geneva in 1995: charges filed by the Office of the Attorney General
Bern, 16.08.2024 - In November 1995, the then deputy head of the Egyptian mission’s trade office in Geneva was shot dead in an underground garage. The criminal proceedings in the matter initiated by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG) had to be suspended in 2009 as the perpetrators could not be identified. New findings prompted the OAG to reopen the criminal proceedings in 2018. It is now filing charges against a 54-year-old male Ivorian-Italian dual national and a 49-year-old female Swiss-Italian dual national with the Federal Criminal Court.
On 13 November 1995, the then deputy head of the Egyptian mission’s trade office in Geneva, a 42-year-old Egyptian citizen, was killed with six shots from a semi-automatic pistol in the underground garage of his apartment building in Geneva. The perpetrators fled, leaving behind a pistol silencer at the scene. It was a handmade device made from foam from car headrests held together with adhesive tape.
Investigations from 1995 to 2009
As the authority responsible for prosecuting offences against diplomatically protected persons, the OAG immediately opened criminal proceedings against persons unknown on suspicion of intentional homicide and, secondarily, on suspicion of murder. The Federal Criminal Police conducted extensive investigations until 2009, especially also regarding a fingerprint secured on the silencer. The Federal Criminal Police then fed the fingerprint into the national Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and forwarded it to 68 countries for comparison via Interpol. However, no matches were found in the respective databases.
In 2004, major progress made in DNA trace analysis made it possible to extract one female and at least three male DNA profiles from the silencer. The female DNA profile was the only one meeting the relevant requirements and was fed into the respective systems and forwarded to Interpol. Again, the comparison did not yield any results. The OAG had to suspend the criminal investigation in December 2009 as the perpetrators could not be identified despite the extensive and lengthy investigations.
New findings lead to the reopening of the criminal proceeding in 2018
In June 2016, a new nation-wide AFIS was put into operation, using detection algorithms that were significantly improved over the years thanks to technological progress. As a result, previously unsolved leads – primarily in connection with serious offences – were compared with data from the new AFIS to draw on the higher match rates. This cold-case processing generated a match between the fingerprint trace on the silencer and a fingerprint record sheet created in Geneva in 2011, belonging to the 54-year-old Ivorian-Italian dual citizen presently charged in the matter.
The OAG therefore reopened the criminal proceedings in January 2018, extending them to the 54-year-old male suspect residing in France. The further investigations, in particular the evaluation of the DNA profiles recovered from the silencer resulted in the proceedings being extended to include the second suspect, a currently 49-year-old female Swiss-Italian dual national resident in Geneva.
In this context, the OAG charged the 54-year-old male suspect with murder (Art. 112 SCC). He is accused of deliberately killing the then 42-year-old deputy head of the Egyptian mission’s trade office in Geneva with six shots, allegedly acting particularly ruthlessly. According to the indictment, he and his female co-accused produced the silencer themselves prior to the crime.
The suspect was arrested in October 2018 on the above-mentioned charges and was held in pre-trial detention until May 2020. In May 2020, he was released from pre-trial detention following a decision by the Federal Supreme Court in connection with an appeal for release from custody that he had submitted. In December 2021, he was arrested again and held on remand as part of cantonal proceedings on suspicion of rape, among other things. The OAG subsequently took over these proceedings from the canton, as it was already investigating the suspect for murder, and he remained in pre-trial detention until the filing of the indictment. When the OAG filed the indictment, it requested that he be placed in preventive detention.
The OAG has charged the 49-year-old female Swiss-Italian dual national with complicity in murder (Art. 112 SCC in conjunction with Art. 25 SCC). She is accused of having made the silencer used for the offence together with the 54-year-old male suspect. She was arrested in November 2018 and remanded in pre-trial detention until the end of December 2018.
Further charges against the 54-year-old male Ivorian-Italian dual national
The OAG has also charged the 54-year-old Ivorian-Italian dual national with the following offences:
Common assault (Art. 123 SCC), prohibited representations of acts of violence (Art. 135 SCC), criminal damage (Art. 144 SCC), fraud (Art. 146 SCC), criminal mismanagement (Art. 158 SCC), mismanagement (Art. 165 SCC), failure to keep proper accounts (Art. 166 SCC), unauthorised recording of conversations (Art. 179ter SCC), threats (Art. 180 SCC), false imprisonment (Art. 183 SCC), indecent assault (Art. 189 SCC), rape (Art. 190 SCC), pornography (Art. 197 SCC), money laundering (Art. 305bis SCC), incitement to give false testimony (Art. 307 SCC in conjunction with Art. 24 SCC), driving without authorisation (Art. 95 of the Road Traffic Act (SVG)), misuse of identity cards and signs (Art. 97 SVG), unlawful entry and pursuit of gainful employment without authorisation (Art. 115 Federal Act on Foreign Nationals and Integration (FNIA)), fraudulent conduct towards the authorities (Art. 118 FNIA) and violation of Art. 22 of the Intercantonal Concordate on Security Companies and its guidelines.
The judicial police investigations were conducted as part of a national, but also an intensive international co-operation. Fedpol’s Federal Criminal Police evaluated the forensic evidence and analysed extensive digital data on behalf of the OAG using various forensic services and state-of-the-art technology. In addition, several dozen interviews were conducted as part of the criminal proceedings.
Henceforth, the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona will be responsible for providing further media information, including on the suspect’s detention. As usual, the OAG will announce its criminal complaints at the main hearing before the Federal Criminal Court. The presumption of innocence applies until a final judgement has been passed.
Original text of the press release in German
Address for enquiries
Communications Service of the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland, T +41 58 464 32 40, info@ba.admin.ch
Publisher
Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland
http://www.ba.admin.ch/
