Court: Swiss erred in man's travel ban

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STRASBOURG, France, Sept. 12 (UPI) -- A European court ruled Wednesday Swiss officials wrongly prevented a man from leaving his town for years after his name was removed from a terrorism list.

Youssef Moustafa Nada, an Italian and Egyptian national, was unable to leave the village of Campione d'Italia for about six years after Swiss officials in 2001 added his name to a U.N. list of people and organizations associated with terrorists.

Nada had lived in the Italian enclave about a mile inside the Swiss canton of Ticino since 1970.

After he was added to the list, the Swiss immigration office said he was no longer authorized to cross the border.

The Swiss Federal Prosecutor said in 2005 that accusations against Nada were unfounded. The businessman asked the Swiss government to remove his name from the terrorism list, but his request was rejected on the grounds that his name was still on the U.N. list.

In February 2008, a foreign ministry representative suggested Nada's attorney ask the United Nations for an exemption. The government said it could not file for the delisting itself, but would support Nada's application.

In August 2009, the United Nations approved an application for delisting submitted by Nada.

In the ruling Wednesday, the 17-judge European Court of Human Rights said "As it had been possible for Switzerland to decide how the Security Council resolutions were to be implemented in its legal order, it could have been less harsh in imposing the sanctions regime on the applicant."

Switzerland was ordered to pay Nada $38,679 in costs and expenses.