Jihadist knife attacker facers terror charges

A woman who attacked two other women in Ticino, saying she was acting on behalf of Islamic State, will be facing terrorism charges in court today.

The attack was in November 2020 and the woman has been detained ever since. 

The 30-year-old took a serrated knife from a department store in Lugano and slashed the throat of the first woman, which police say came only within millimetres of major arteries and then turned the knife on another. The second woman fought back and her hand was injured. 

The trial at the Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona starts today with the woman facing attempted murder and terror charges. Her defence team will be arguing she suffers from psychological problems in an effort to drop the terrorist motive. 

More from Bitesize News

  • Speed limit decrease in parts of Lausanne

    Several new streets in central Lausanne will drop to 30 kilometres per hour from 12 October, day and night, according to a letter the city has sent to affected residents

  • Population increase forecast for Vaud

    The population of canton Vaud will pass one million residents by 2046, according to new demographic projections released Friday

  • UBS share price increases

    UBS shares jumped more than 3% on the Swiss exchange on Friday after a US news outlet reported the bank is weighing a merger with a foreign rival and a move of its head office

  • Warmer than average end to the month

    Switzerland is heading into a summery final week of September, with temperatures forecast to climb into the late-20s this week

  • New CERN collider still under consideration

    Cross-border French communes near Geneva have laid down their conditions for Cern's proposed 90.7-kilometre particle collider, warning they will not sign off without guarantees

  • Citizenship remains one of the hardest on continent

    The Council of States has rejected a popular initiative that would have let foreigners apply for citizenship after just five years, closing the parliamentary door on the biggest attempt in years to loosen one of Europe's strictest naturalisation regimes

Download our app

  • Available on the App Store
  • Available on Google Play