Ali Abunimah was reportedly held in solitary confinement without charges.
Swiss authorities deported Ali Abunimah, executive director of Electronic Intifada, following a three-day detention, according to his Monday X post.
Abunimah was arrested in Zurich on Saturday, hours before a scheduled speaking engagement.
“We do not want an Islamist Jew-hater who calls for violence in Switzerland,” Swiss Security Department head Mario Fehr told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, as authorities considered “immigration law measures” against the 53-year-old.
In a statement upon arriving in Istanbul Monday, Abunimah detailed his experience: arrest by plainclothes officers, three days in solitary confinement, “cut off from communication” and unable to contact his family.
“During a police interview on Saturday, with my lawyer present, they accused me of ‘offending against Swiss law’ without specifying the crime or listing charges,” Abunimah said. He claimed he had not been charged.
He reported questioning the next day by “Swiss defense ministry intelligence agents” without his lawyer. “I refused to talk to them without my lawyer and told them to take me back to my cell,” Abunimah stated, adding he refused food, except water, during detention.
“The police gave me my phone back only at the plane’s gate, so I’m only now seeing the overwhelming support and solidarity from around the world,” he said.
Abunimah’s arrest drew UN criticism. Irene Khan, UN special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, called the detention “shocking news” and urged his release on X Sunday.
Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on human rights in occupied Palestinian territories, shared similar concerns. “The climate surrounding freedom of speech in Europe is becoming increasingly toxic, and we should all be concerned,” she wrote.
Born in Washington, DC, to West Bank parents, Abunimah co-founded Electronic Intifada in 2001. The website provides news on Middle Eastern events from a Palestinian perspective. Abunimah is a frequent mainstream media commentator advocating for the Palestinian cause.