The Canadian press recently provided an inside look into the Swiss investigation on Yassin Al Kadi. According to the report, in 2006 the Swiss judge investigating the case of Yassin Al Kadi has requested the Canadian judicial cooperation to provide insights on Kadi’s relationship to Ibrahim Afandi, a Saudi businessman who has been for years a member of the executive board of the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO) and whose name appeared on a list of individuals referred to within al Qaeda as the “Golden Chain,” wealthy donors to mujahideen efforts, that we’ve recovered from archives of a Bosnian charity in 2003. His name also appeared in the Al Taqwa Bank phonebook seized at Youssef Nada's house in 2001.
The Swiss judge specifically requested access to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) files in order to assess “links and/or interesting similarities between some financial set-ups performed by Mr. Yasin Al Kadi and Mr. Ibrahim Afandi”.
In an unusual interview during the course of an ongoing investigation, the Swiss judge said she was “looking for evidence, for connections with other proceedings” in America and Europe.
The Canadian press report suggests that the Swiss authorities are carrying out a broad investigation, extended from the Swiss transactions that have shaped the initial prosecution, to include international collateral and tangential networks.
The ongoing case against Al Kadi was opened by the Swiss Federal Prosecutor on October 15, 2001. Al Kadi was formally charged in July 2003 of participating to a criminal organization. In June 2005, the case was transferred to a Swiss Federal investigative judge.
