Sanctuary, Armory, and Prison: Switzerland and the Role of Swiss Anarchists as Intermediaries in the European Terrorist Network in the 1970s

Abstract

AbstractThis article focuses on how Switzerland played a dual role in providing a sanctuary for retired left-wing radicals while serving as an armament source for the distribution of weapons and explosives throughout Europe in the 1970s. A significant part of the article delves into the case of the AKO (Anarchistische Kampforganisation), a Swiss anarchist group that supplied several European terrorist groups with weapons. The position of this group will be analyzed in the context of the transnational terrorist network as a way of assessing to what extent their cooperation with other groups was rooted in mutual ideological affiliations, and how closely the anarchist tradition, of which they were a part, related to the European framework of the New Left. The case of Petra Krause, one of the group's key figures, is latterly discussed, particularly her imprisonment in Switzerland and the campaign for her release, which mobilized a large number of supporters across Europe and contributed to the portrayal of Switzerland as a prison.