Switzerland withdraws asylum of Libyan preacher after 20 years

Switzerland’s Federal Administrative Court in St Gallen has revoked the asylum status of a Libyan preacher following allegations of spreading hate speech.

Salah al-din Faitouri, known as Abu-Ramadan, obtained Swiss asylum in 1998 and has drawn regular social security benefits for the past 13 years.

Abu-Ramadan is accused of spreading “hate speech” at the Ar Rahman mosque in Biel canton, Bern.

He denied these claims and insisted that he had never delivered any hate speech, citing an inaccurate translation of his words from Arabic.

The preacher, 64, holds a Libyan passport and has visited his homeland several times since 2013. The last time, in 2017, lasted over a month. The Swiss court argued that his return to his country of origin was a violation of his refugee status.

The court’s ruling confirmed an earlier decision by the State Secretariat for Migration on Abu-Ramadan’s asylum status which said that the ruling is final and cannot be appealed.

Abu-Ramadan said he did not know that a refugee cannot visit his country of origin when he visited his 93-year-old mother.