A Swiss parliamentary investigation into the detention and expulsion of journalist Ali Abunimah in January has concluded there was a series of irregularities and evidence of political interference.

The new federal report indicates abuse of power by a senior Swiss official with financial ties to Israel.

The ban “deviated from standard practice” and was “unsatisfactory” the report concludes.

In a statement posted to X this week, Abunimah called the report a major new development.

“These grave violations of democratic and human rights were carried out to prevent me from speaking at lawful public events — organized by Swiss citizens and residents — calling for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza,” he wrote.

The report, published on Tuesday, confirms for the first time that Nicoletta della Valle, then director of Fedpol, the federal police agency, was directly involved in the affair and labels her actions “particularly problematic.”

The report was issued by the Control Commission of the Council of States, the parliamentary body that audits Swiss federal agencies.

Abunimah had legally entered the country intending to participate in a series of public events where he planned to condemn Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Instead, he was forcibly abducted off the street without warning by plainclothes Swiss police. He was detained for three days before being deported. All requests to speak to his family were denied and he had very little contact with his lawyer.

Irene Khan and Francesca Albanese, two UN special rapporteurs, condemned the arrest. “The climate surrounding freedom of speech in Europe is becoming increasingly toxic, and we should all be concerned,” said Albanese.

As The Electronic Intifada later revealed, Abunimah was banned from entry only after he had already entered the country.

The Zurich cantonal police had initially requested that Fedpol issue the ban before Abunimah entered. But Fedpol denied the request, concluding that Abunimah’s views were protected by freedom of expression and he presented no security threat to Switzerland.

That decision was made after Fedpol consulted with the intelligence service and immigration authorities.

“Fanatical pro-Israel activist” and Zurich cantonal police minister Mario Fehr was said to be behind the initial ban request.

Despite the initial Fedpol denial, the Zurich cantonal police submitted the same request to ban Abunimah the next day and this time it was granted — after Abunimah had already entered the country.

“Particularly problematic”

The new report reveals that it was della Valle, the pro-Israel Fedpol director, who overruled the lawful and considered decision of her own police agency and imposed the ban. The report also states that she did so based on no new evidence and in violation of standard procedures.

“Following a call from the commander of the Zurich cantonal police,” the report explains, della Valle decided “to issue an entry ban after all, and she verbally instructed the head of the competent division to do so.”

She did not provide any new information, the report finds. Instead she alleged that the head of the competent division “could not see the overall picture,” the report summarizes.

One of the report’s five formal recommendations states that such behavior should not happen again.

Such a decision “should only be reconsidered if this appears necessary based on previously unknown facts,” the report states.

“The timing and nature of [della Valle’s] intervention are particularly problematic,” the commission concluded.

The report explains that an entry ban requires “the existence of concrete and current evidence … that the person concerned might, with a certain degree of probability, pose a threat to security in Switzerland (e.g. through violent extremism or terrorism).”

Fedpol’s initial decision – overturned only after improper interference by della Valle – confirmed that no such evidence existed justifying any action against Abunimah.

“Insufficiently traceable”

The commission’s report also criticizes the federal police for failing to keep adequate records of their decision-making process.

“The files provide only very summary information” on the reasons why Fedpol imposed an entry ban on Abunimah following an initial rejection of the ban request, the commission’s report states.

“The sequence of events between the rejection of the Zurich cantonal police’s request by the competent division at Fedpol and the issuance of the orders is incomplete,” the report explains.

“The administrative actions in this timeframe are therefore insufficiently traceable.”

The commission’s report concludes that Fedpol “did not adequately fulfill its record-keeping obligations.”

Abunimah said the report indicated “serious irregularities and abuses of power in the actions taken against me.”

Nicoletta della Valle is “notorious for her staunch support of Israel,” he wrote in his statement on X. Her role with the Israeli investment firm raises “questions about conflict of interest and propriety,” he said.

Abunimah is currently challenging his arrest in Zurich cantonal and Swiss federal courts and said his lawyers are taking additional action based on the report.

“Flatten the Gaza Strip”

Della Valle’s post-police role in the Israeli investment firm Champel Capital has been the subject of recent scrutiny in the Swiss press.

According to Champel’s website, the company seems to prioritize investment in the “defense and security” sectors – euphemisms for the military and intelligence industries.

Its senior partners include retired Israeli major general Giora Eiland, who has repeatedly advocated the collective punishment and starvation of civilians in Gaza.

At the outset of the Gaza genocide in 2023 he called for the creation of “a severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza” as a “necessary means to achieve the goal … Gaza will become a place where no human being can exist.” He also conceived the infamous “generals plan” to expel hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from northern Gaza.

And he served as an adviser to Black Cube, the mercenary Israeli intelligence firm which spied on the victims of now-convicted rapist and former Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein in a failed attempt to discredit their testimonies and intimidate them.

Champel’s co-founder is Amir Weitmann. He lives in an illegal Israeli settlement in occupied East Jerusalem, considers the entire population of Gaza “scum” that he wants to “expel” and has also demanded Israel “flatten the Gaza Strip.” Asked by Swiss German publication Die Wochenzeitung to comment, he doubled down on these genocidal statements, claiming that “the entire Gaza Strip” is “a legitimate military target.”

A member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling Likud party, Weitmann has even, in effect, called for the Israeli captives who were held in Gaza before last month’s ceasefire to be killed: “If the hostages had been ignored and a rational war simply waged, we would already be at the end of this event.”

Such sentiments are far from uncommon in Israel, which even has a formal military doctrine that allows for the deliberate murder of Israelis in the process of being captured by Palestinian fighters – the Hannibal Directive.

Following criticism in the Swiss press last month, della Valle’s name was removed from the company’s website.

It is unclear, however, whether della Valle has resigned or if all concerned are merely trying to keep a low profile. Die Wochenzeitung reported last month that “the company is currently raising one hundred million US dollars for a new fund with which it intends to invest in the Israeli arms industry. The investment group is thus directly profiting from the war in Gaza.”

Della Valle declined to comment to the Swiss paper.

With translation from German by Daniel Shunra.

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