Swiss ‘terrorist’ who shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’ before train station stabbing ‘needs help,’ dad says

The madman accused of stabbing three men in a frenzied rush hour attack at a Swiss train station is not a “terrorist” but someone who is “mentally ill and needs help”, his dad has claimed.

Nesip Dedeler, who allegedly shouted Allahu Akhbar during Thursday’s rampage, was described by his dad Ayhan, 55, as someone who was “very withdrawn,” after Swiss officials identified the 31-year-old as a “terrorist,” according to the Swiss outlet Blick.

“My son is not a terrorist, but mentally ill and needs help!” Ayhan said,

“Nesip has no social contacts, no girlfriend – that can’t end well. It’s not good for his mental health,” Ayhan said.

“For ten years he’s done nothing and smokes three or four packs of cigarettes a day.

“He has no education, no job, and no money.”

Ayhan said he clashed with his 31-year-old son after telling him to “make something of himself.”

“He [Nesip] said ‘Don’t talk nonsense. Don’t argue with me.”

Mario Fehr, the head of Switzerland’s Department of Security, identified Nesip Dedeler as the knifeman who committed the broad daylight attack at a press conference held Thursday afternoon.

Ayhan said he only learned about the stabbings through the media, before revealing his ex-wife and two other sons are set to be quizzed by the authorities.

“I don’t know why it happened,” the dad said.

Swiss authorities revealed Dedeler was admitted into a psychiatric unit on Monday after making incoherent comments – three days before the attack.

He left the center on his own accord the following day – before he was captured by police and readmitted.

“He [Dedeler] was apparently afraid of the treatment, said something about injections,” Ayhan claimed.

“I told him: Take your pills, eat well, exercise. Think of it like a stay in a five-star hotel – for your own health!”

On Wednesday, doctors ruled that he didn’t pose a danger to the community – a decision that has left Fehr baffled.

“Why that decision was made is beyond our knowledge, but the assessment was obviously wrong,” he said.

Ayhan admitted that he couldn’t understand why the decision was taken. 

But Dedeler had been known to the police since 2015 for violating Switzerland’s ban on the Islamic State — a measure which has been in place for more than a decade.

He allegedly spread ISIS propaganda and received radical content, according to the Swiss public broadcaster SRF.

In 2015, Dedeler stood trial over an assault in Wülflingen, a district of Winterthur, and he reportedly told the judge, “You are not honored. I will certainly not stand up for you out of courtesy. I only stand before Allah,” as reported by 20Minuten. 

He also claimed, “I don’t give a damn about Swiss law. Only Islamic law prevents me from attacking people, not Swiss law.”

Dedeler allegedly had links to the now-permanently closed An’Nur Mosque, whose imam was charged in 2017 after calling for the killings of non-practising Muslims. 

In 2024, Dedeler applied to renew his Swiss passport before emigrating to Turkey in August that year, according to Fehr.

The man returned to Switzerland in May 2026 after he “disappeared for two years,” the security chief said.

Dedeler was arrested five minutes after the stabbings were reported.

“He had a knife in his hand,” a witness told Blick. “Everyone was screaming and running away.”

The three men aged 28, 43 and 52 were rushed to the hospital. The 52-year-old man underwent emergency surgery after being stabbed in the thigh.

Investigators didn’t share any further details relating to the apprehension.