Zurich security director Mario Fehr has sparked a political row after the knife attack in Winterthur, accusing left-wing parties of downplaying the case and blocking the kind of transparency and prevention measures he says the public wants.
The attack, in which three people were injured at Winterthur station on 28 May, has since escalated into a broader dispute over terrorism, data sharing and institutional failures.
Fehr told the cantonal parliament that the assault should not be treated as “just psychology” and insisted it was wrong to avoid calling it a terrorist act, a stance that drew sharp criticism from the left. He also argued that privacy rules prevent authorities from sharing information effectively enough to stop radicalised individuals from slipping through the cracks.
“There’s no point in pretending once again that it wasn’t an act of terrorism,” said Fehr in parliament.
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The immediate trigger for the controversy was the case itself: a 31-year-old Swiss man injured three passers-by with a knife at Winterthur station before being arrested, and prosecutors have since moved the investigation to the federal level on terrorism-related grounds. Fehr said the psychiatric assessment that cleared the suspect shortly before the attack was an “obvious misjudgment,” and he repeated his call for stronger action, including stripping the perpetrator of citizenship and deporting him to Turkey.
Left-wing politicians pushed back hard.
The Greens criticised Fehr for naming the suspect in full and for describing the attack as a terrorist act before the judicial authorities had concluded their work.
They argued that he was seeking political effect rather than waiting for a factual, complete investigation.
The exchange has exposed a deeper fault line in Swiss politics: how far cantonal and federal authorities should go in identifying radicalisation, sharing data and acting pre-emptively when a suspect has a history of extremist behaviour. Supporters of Fehr say the case shows the cost of hesitation; his opponents say the response risks undermining due process and inflaming the debate before the facts are fully established.
Who is Mario Fehr?
Mario Fehr has been Zurich cantonal security director since 2011, with responsibility for the police, asylum policy and social welfare. A trained lawyer, he has led the security department since 2011, served twice as cantonal president, and is now an independent politician after leaving the SP in 2021.
