Arab Spring: Swiss Attorney General to request legal assistance from Egypt

Bern, 31.01.2014 - To help with its own criminal investigation with regard to the Arab Spring, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland will be requesting the support of the Egyptian judicial authorities in obtaining evidence of possible predicate offences to money laundering.

During the past couple of months, the Office of the Attorney General has thoroughly analysed the case of Egypt and reviewed it in depth. Priority has been accorded to establishing the facts, the relationships between the persons under investigation - all Egyptian nationals associated with former president Mubarak - and to analysing bank accounts and flows of financial assets.

What is decisive in Switzerland's criminal investigation, as in all cases of money laundering, is the question of whether the predicate offences can be shown to have been committed outside of Switzerland. The cooperation of the Egyptian judicial authorities is vital since the alleged criminal acts or predicate offences to money laundering took place almost exclusively in Egypt. Consequently, the Office of the Attorney General will be contacting the competent Egyptian authorities in the next couple of days and actively requesting legal assistance as provided for under the Swiss Act on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters (IMAC) and the Swiss Criminal Procedure Code (CrimPC).

At the same time the Office of the Attorney General is addressing pending requests for mutual legal assistance from Egypt by stepping up the reconciliation of requests with the legal systems of both countries.

In view of the complexity and importance of this matter, coordinated cooperation is imperative and the support of the Egyptian authorities decisive for the success of the Swiss proceedings.


Address for enquiries

Jeannette Balmer, Spokeswoman OAG, +41 31 324 32 40, info@ba.admin.ch


Publisher

Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland
http://www.ba.admin.ch/

https://www.admin.ch/content/gov/en/start/dokumentation/medienmitteilungen.msg-id-51874.html