Swiss police arrest Australian man over stabbing in Zurich

Published February 23, 2025
A file photo from January 2019 shows the eastern Swiss Alps, Lake Zurich and the city of Zurich in Switzerland. — Reuters
A file photo from January 2019 shows the eastern Swiss Alps, Lake Zurich and the city of Zurich in Switzerland. — Reuters

Swiss police have arrested a 28-year-old Australian man suspected of stabbing and seriously injuring a 41-year-old man in a shop in central Zurich, authorities said.

The motive for Saturday’s attack is still under investigation, police said in a statement. The Australian was arrested at the scene while the victim was taken to hospital.

Police declined to give further details on the identity of the victim and the suspect. Prosecutors could provide more information on Monday, a police spokesperson said.

A number of stabbings have caused alarm in Europe in recent days, with an Algerian man arrested on Saturday in Mulhouse, France over a deadly knife attack, while a Syrian refugee was detained over a stabbing at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial.

On Thursday, a teenage attacker killed two women with a knife in a shopping centre in the Czech city of Hradec Kralove.

Last Saturday, a Syrian asylum seeker was arrested on suspicion of going on a stabbing rampage in southern Austria.

Opinion

Editorial

A breakthrough?
07 May, 2026

A breakthrough?

The whole world would welcome an end to this pointless war.
Missed opportunity
07 May, 2026

Missed opportunity

A BIG opportunity to industrialise Pakistan has just passed us by. This has been reconfirmed by the investment...
Punishing dissent
07 May, 2026

Punishing dissent

THE Sindh government’s treatment of the Aurat March this week was a disgraceful assault on democratic rights. What...
The May war
Updated 06 May, 2026

The May war

Rationality demands that both states come to the table and discuss their grievances, and their solutions in a mature manner.
Looking inwards
06 May, 2026

Looking inwards

REGULAR appraisals by human rights groups and activists should not be treated by the authorities as attempts to ...
Feeling the heat
06 May, 2026

Feeling the heat

ANOTHER heatwave season has begun, and once again, the state is scrambling to respond to conditions it has long been...