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The Swiss Federal Criminal Court (FCC) rendered a decision on the Argor case on January 24, 2014. It reveals that a search was conducted on the premises of the Swiss refining company on November 4, 2013, following the opening of proceedings on alleged aggravated money laundry and complicity in the looting of raw materials. Documentation and computers were seized on th...

Geneva, 31 July  2012  The Federal Criminal Court (FCC) released today a landmark decision in the case of Khaled Nezzar, an Algerian former defence minister denounced by TRIAL for war crimes. The FCC found that Mr. Nezzar cannot claim immunity for acts committed during his tenure, thus paving the way for a trial in Switzerland. The present decision opens up signifi...

In 2008-2009, Mr Dias was the Major General of the 57th Division of the Sri Lankan army, tasked with attacking the Tamil Tigers during the final offensive against the rebel group. In this respect, he is alleged to have committed serious violations of the law of war. It is alleged that, from December 2008 to January 2009, the town of Kilinochchi was relentlessly shell...

Bern/Geneva/Berlin, 13.09.2011 According to media reports today, Jagath Dias, a former Sri Lankan General suspected of having committed war crimes, was stripped of his diplomatic status. The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP), TRIAL (Swiss association against impunity) and ECCHR (European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights) welcome this decision. However,...

Geneva/Bern, 22nd September 2011 Following a criminal complaint brought by TRIAL (Swiss association against impunity) and the Society for threatened peoples (SPM) against the Sri Lankan Deputy Ambassador to Switzerland, Jagath Dias, for war crimes, the Swiss Federal Attorney General has decided that a criminal investigation will be launched if Mr. Dias were to come...

ECCHR-Dossier confirms allegations against the Sri Lankan diplomat accused of committing numerous war crimes. 3 May 2011 (Berlin/Bern/Geneva). ECCHR has today published a new dossier which substantiates allegations of war crimes committed by the 57 Division of the Sri Lankan Army under the command of Jagath Dias (available at www.ecchr.eu). Jagath Dias was Major Ge...

Following the announcement that the former President of the United States of America was going to come to Geneva on 12 February 2011 for personal reasons, TRIAL has been requested on several occasions to participate in the proceedings against George W. Bush. The organisation believes that it is likely that international crimes (namely torture, enforced disappearanc...

Geneva, 15 December 2010. In 2007, the Federal Court, Switzerland's highest judicial authority, rejected a claim from a Tunisian victim of torture, to bring an action for damages against Tunisia and a former minister of the Interior. The European Court of Human Rights has just made it clear it might not agree. In April 1992, while living in Italy, Mr. Abdennacer Na...