The 20-year-old Swiss ecologist, who went to the Autonomous Administration region of North and East Syria in 2019 to support the Rojava Revolution and take part in ecologist projects there, was detained in Duhok under the control of the Southern Kurdistan Administration, as he was on his way back to Geneva, last Sunday. The Swiss young man has been detained in Hewler for a week.

Informing the Swiss News Agency Keystone-ATS on the matter, the youth's lawyer, Olivier Peter, confirmed that his client has been detained in Hewler for a week and criticized the South Kurdistan Government’s attitude. Stating that his client is an ecologist with a Swiss leftist groups, lawyer Peter added that he had gone to the region to support ecologist projects being implemented in Rojava.

The lawyer said that his client was detained in Duhok while trying to return to Geneva last Sunday and added that the South Kurdistan authorities attributed the reason for his client to be detained for violating the border and being without a passport.

“It is true that my client lost his passport while crossing the border, but the Northern Iraqi Kurdish Authorities renewed my client's visa last February. They have this information. My client's identity can be easily proven. In this sense, detaining my client for more than a week is unacceptable. I attribute the situation to the tension between the northern Iraqi Kurdish authorities and Rojava. This is the reason of the continuation of my client's detention.”

Stating that the Swiss Foreign Ministry is aware of the situation, lawyer Peter said that the Swiss officials are in contact with the Southern Kurdistan administration.

On the other hand, it was learned that the Swiss young man had previously participated in many actions and events organized in Geneva to support the Rojava Revolution.