Youssef Moustafa Ali Nada (; 17 May 1931 – 22 December 2024) was an Egyptian businessman and
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...
financial strategist. Nada is most famous for raising successful European human rights legal cases to defend himself against accusations of
terrorism
Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
by the United States. The U.S. accusations, made directly after the
9/11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...
, resulted in his placement on the
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267
United Nations Security Council resolution 1267 was adopted unanimously on 15 October 1999. After recalling resolutions 1189 (1998), 1193 (1998) and 1214 (1998) on the situation in Afghanistan, the Council designated Osama bin Laden and associ ...
terror
blacklist
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...
.
In 2001, Nada, former chairman of
al Taqwa Bank
The Al Taqwa Bank (occasionally Bank al Taqwa or simply Al Taqwa
Newsweek. (2001)."Attacking the Money Machine". ''MSNBC.com''. Retrieved February 14, 2007.
) is a financial institution incorporated in 1988. It is based out of The Bahamas, Swi ...
, was placed on the UN terror list by the
U.S. Treasury Department. Nada was alleged to have financed activities of
al Qaeda
, image = Flag of Jihad.svg
, caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions
, founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden
, leaders = {{Plainlist,
* Osama bin Lad ...
, charges Nada vehemently denied.
The U.S. accusation was made applicable under the UN terror-listing program and affected his life in Switzerland, notably his assets, reputation, honor, and ability to move freely. In 2006, he sued the Swiss government for restitution of financial losses due to the Swiss investigation.
By 2009, both the Swiss and Italian investigations of Nada were dropped as no evidence was found to support the U.S. accusations.
Both Switzerland and Italy petitioned the UN Terrorism Committee to remove Nada's name from the
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267
United Nations Security Council resolution 1267 was adopted unanimously on 15 October 1999. After recalling resolutions 1189 (1998), 1193 (1998) and 1214 (1998) on the situation in Afghanistan, the Council designated Osama bin Laden and associ ...
blacklist, at the objection of the United States. The U.S. finally acquiesced to his removal on 24 September 2009, but retained Nada on the domestic
U.S. Treasury
The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments.
...
list under
Executive Order 13224
Executive Order 13224 is an executive order issued by U.S. president George W. Bush on September 23, 2001, as a response to the attacks on September 11, 2001. It has been renewed every year since.
History
In general terms, the Order provides ...
until 25 February 2015 when it also removed his name from its own sanctions list.
While the United States refused to disclose evidence of Nada's guilt, claiming that the evidence was
classified
Classified may refer to:
General
*Classified information, material that a government body deems to be sensitive
*Classified advertising or "classifieds"
Music
*Classified (rapper) (born 1977), Canadian rapper
* The Classified, a 1980s American ro ...
,
it removed his name from all its lists silently with little fanfare in 2015.
Between 2007 and 2009, Nada's ordeal featured heavily in a report by Swiss Senator and former Prosecutor
Dick Marty
Dick Marty (7 January 1945 – 28 December 2023) was a Swiss politician ( FDP.The Liberals) and state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. He was a member of the Swiss Council of States (from 1995 to 2011) and of the Parliamentary Assembly of t ...
on behalf of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
The Assembly is made up of ...
. Marty's report assessed the UN's terror-blacklisting procedures against international rule of law standards – along with those for a similar blacklist run by the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
– and concluded that both were "completely arbitrary" and violated human rights.
In 2008, Nada raised a case against Switzerland at the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
in
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
, also a body of the
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
.
On 12 September 2012, the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
ruled in favor of Nada,
citing that Nada's human rights had been violated, in the context of the
European Convention on Human Rights
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...
. In this ruling the government of Switzerland was ordered to pay Nada 30,000
Euros
The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
in damages, for their treatment of him as a person placed – with no evidence of guilt – on the
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267
United Nations Security Council resolution 1267 was adopted unanimously on 15 October 1999. After recalling resolutions 1189 (1998), 1193 (1998) and 1214 (1998) on the situation in Afghanistan, the Council designated Osama bin Laden and associ ...
terror blacklist by the United States.
Early life and education
Youssef Nada was born on 17 May 1931 in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
, Egypt. In his late teens, Nada became affiliated with the
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...
.
Between 1952 and 1954, Nada was imprisoned with 300,000 members of the Muslim Brotherhood in a desert-based Egyptian military
concentration camp
A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...
. Many persons imprisoned in this camp were
tortured
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties.
Some definitions restrict torture to ac ...
as a result of Gamal Abdel-Nasser's famous campaign against the group. After his release, Nada returned to
University in Alexandria and began a business with a friend, producing milk.
[ (authorized biography of Nada)]
Career
In the late 1950s, Nada moved to Europe, settling in Austria, and began working with a cheese factory in
Graz
Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...
. In 1961, a close friend of Nada's invited him to Libya where a construction boom was developing. Nada seized on the occasion and started to spend his time between Libya and Austria. In a matter of a few years he became the largest supplier of cement to the North African country. The activity led him to partner with
Cementir, the Italian cement maker, to develop in 1965 the world's first floating cement silos, two barges named GI-1 and GD-2 able to store bulk cement and loaded with bagging facilities. Cement soon became his main business along with smaller operations in other commodities ranging from steel to agricultural materials. Nada had tremendous business success in his ventures with Saudi Arabia, Libya and eventually, the Nigerian government.
During the 1960s, the Egyptian government fell back into conflict with the Muslim Brotherhood. Nada became one of the members wanted by the Egyptians. This led to Nada settling permanently in Europe.
By 2001, the time of the accusations for which he became famous, Nada was a resident of Italy. He lived in
Campione, a small Italian 'enclave' adjacent to the Swiss canton of
Ticino
Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...
.
The road to enter his property, and home, crossed through Switzerland. This is why his being banned from Swiss territory placed him in a state of virtual house arrest for a number of years. It explains why the Swiss
SECO made it legal entanglements with the Swiss government inevitable.
Personal life and death
Nada has a son Hazim Nada, born in
Silver Spring, Maryland
Silver Spring is a census-designated place (CDP) in southeastern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, near Washington, D.C. Although officially Unincorporated area, unincorporated, it is an edge city with a population of 81,015 at the 2020 ...
, who founded a commodities-trading business in 2008 to support his studies. He became victim of a United Arab Emirates funded
smear campaign by a Geneva-based private intelligence firm named ''Alp Services'' of
Mario Brero, exposed in a March 2023 article in the New Yorker. The scheme funded the spreading of allegations that his business was a cover for a Muslim Brotherhood cell through paid journalists and co-consiprators, such as Sylvain Besson and Africa Intelligence, which prompted
World-Check
World-Check is a database of politically exposed persons (PEPs) and 'heightened risk' individuals and organizations. World Check formed part of the Thomson Reuters Risk Management Solutions suite before being transferred to Refinitiv after a merg ...
to flag him, pushing, amongst other means as well, banks to stop servicing him, eventually destroying his business.
[David D Kirkpatric]
The Dirty Secrets of a Smear Campaign
27 March 2023, The New Yorker
Nada died in Switzerland on 22 December 2024, at the age of 93.
Claims about Nada
Meeting in Algeria
A 1986 article in London-based ''
Asharq Al-Awsat
''Asharq Al-Awsat'' (, meaning "The Middle East") is an Arabic international newspaper headquartered in London. A pioneer of the "off-shore" model in the Arabic press, the paper is often noted for its distinctive green-tinted pages.
Although pu ...
'' reported that Nada, along with
Ahmed Ben Bella
Ahmed Ben Bella (; 25 December 1916 – 11 April 2012) was an Algerian politician, soldier and socialist revolutionary who served as the head of government of Algeria from 27 September 1962 to 15 September 1963 and then the first president of ...
, a former president of Algeria, held a secret meeting at his Switzerland home attended by "major figures in some of the world’s most violent groups." Other attendees of the meeting included the "Blind Sheikh"
Omar Abdel-Rahman
Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman (), (ʾUmar ʾAbd ar-Raḥmān; 3 May 1938 – 18 February 2017), commonly known in the United States as "The Blind Sheikh", was a blind Egyptians, Egyptian Islamist militant who served a Life imprisonment, life senten ...
and
Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, a leading Lebanese
Shi'ite Muslim
Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood to ...
scholar.
In an interview on ''
al-Jazeera
Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pr ...
'', Nada himself vehemently denied any such thing to have occurred citing that well-known hatred between the individuals made such a meeting implausible. Nada claimed further that the London-based newspaper which made the allegations had links to Arab governments opposed to the Muslim Brotherhood.
"The Project"
In a November 2001 raid on offices and residences associated with Youssef Nada, journalist Sylvain Besson, who Nada accused of targeting him with nefarious conspiracies, claims that an untitled document, written in
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
and dated 1 December 1982, ostensibly outlining a plan to infiltrate and defeat Western countries was found. Later referred to as "The Project" by the Swiss-French journalist. While the document itself has no mention whatsoever of the Muslim Brotherhood and is neither proved to have come from Nada's house (see Nada's interview at Al-Jazeera Shahed Ala Al-Asr), as claimed by the conspiracy theory of the book, the author adds the title the Project to such document and concludes on his own inferencing that it is to be deemed a Muslim Brotherhood document. Nada totally disputed both the document and the conspiracies (see Al-Jazeera Bila Hudud interviews).
Nada's rebuttal
Nada said that the aforementioned stories were fabrications, made for political purposes. This is a claim at least partly supported by the findings of the Swiss and Italian investigations, which cited that the accusations against him appeared to have political roots.
Beyond this, Nada says that from mid-1997, numerous western journalists appeared to be acting in the service of various foreign intelligence agencies in the Middle East, supporting claims that benefitted certain regimes in the Arab world and that such journalists knew well were false. The names he focuses on are Sylvain Besson, Guido Olimpio, Richard Labaviere, Mark Hosenball, Michael Isikof and Victor Comras, Lorenzo Vidino all journalists who have pushed defamatory allegations against Nada and which were found baseless by all the authorities who investigated them.
Terror investigations
Swiss and Italian investigation, 2001–2005
Although the claims against him were made by the United States, the nature of the UN terror sanctions program made Nada's treatment as a terror suspect international. Therefore, most of the actions taken in his direction were in the hands of Swiss and Italian authorities, due to his residential and business linkages to the two countries.
In November 2001, the Swiss government froze 24 bank accounts associated with Nada, and the Swiss federal prosecutor's office, led by Claude Nicati, began an aggressive inquiry into the activities of Nada and Taqwa co-director
Ali Ghaleb Himmat
Ali Ghaleb Himmat (; born 16 June 1938 in Damascus, Syria) is an Italian businessman who lives in Campione d'Italia, Italy, near Youssef Nada. In 1990 he received Italian citizenship. . Both men repeatedly denied any connection with
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...
and his al-Qaeda network.
Ultimately the Federal Court in
Bellinzona
Bellinzona ( , ; ; is a municipality, a List of towns in Switzerland, historic Swiss town, and the capital of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. The town is famous for its Three Castles of Bellinzona, three castles (Castelgrande, Montebello, Sa ...
ordered the prosecutor to close the investigations, having produced no evidence to support any form of charges.
Swiss and Italy drop investigation, ask UN to remove his terror-listing
On 1 June 2005, the Swiss case was dropped due to lack of evidence. The Prosecutor was admonished by the Court for opening a file on Nada without any specific reason. The Italian case was closed in 2007, after a lengthy investigation whereby the Prosecutor stated that the grounds for opening the case appeared to be more political and agenda-driven rather than judicial or evidence based. Italian premier newspaper ''
Corriere della Sera
(; ) is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average circulation of 246,278 copies in May 2023. First published on 5 March 1876, is one of Italy's oldest newspapers and is Italy's most read newspaper. Its masthead has remain ...
'' reported on this.
Both the Swiss and Italian governments petitioned the Committee of the United Nations in-charge of the
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267
United Nations Security Council resolution 1267 was adopted unanimously on 15 October 1999. After recalling resolutions 1189 (1998), 1193 (1998) and 1214 (1998) on the situation in Afghanistan, the Council designated Osama bin Laden and associ ...
terror blacklist.
In 2009, Nada was removed from the
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267
United Nations Security Council resolution 1267 was adopted unanimously on 15 October 1999. After recalling resolutions 1189 (1998), 1193 (1998) and 1214 (1998) on the situation in Afghanistan, the Council designated Osama bin Laden and associ ...
terror blacklist (UNSC 1267).
Tried ''in absentia'' in Egyptian military trial
In January and February 2007, Egypt announced it had frozen the assets of dozens of top Muslim Brotherhood figures, warning that at least 40 persons were to stand trial in Egypt's military court.
The Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are distributed to its members, major ...
notes this court is "known for its swift trials and no right of appeal."
In April 2008, an Egyptian military tribunal sentenced Nada
''in absentia'' to ten years' imprisonment for providing financial support to the Muslim Brotherhood.
In his 2008 filings at the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
,
Nada claims he had not been informed of the proceedings against him and that he had therefore never had the possibility of defending himself in person nor of sending a lawyer to represent him. Nada noted that the trial was held before a military tribunal even though he was a civilian, and therefore called the proceedings into question as being an unfair trial.
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe inquiry
A 2007 report for the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
The Assembly is made up of ...
(PACE) by Swiss Senator
Dick Marty
Dick Marty (7 January 1945 – 28 December 2023) was a Swiss politician ( FDP.The Liberals) and state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. He was a member of the Swiss Council of States (from 1995 to 2011) and of the Parliamentary Assembly of t ...
described the Nada case as being "
like a page out of Kafka".
Investigations of the case, and the injustices suffered by Nada, who has never been proven to have any links to Al Qaeda, nor the
Taliban
, leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders
, leader1_name = {{indented plainlist,
* Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013)
* Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016)
* Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
, were the focal point of a two-year PACE human rights investigation. During this investigation, the UN SC 1276, and other UN terror-blacklisting programs, came under harsh scrutiny and criticism. The PACE report summarised the situation in these terms:
::"Even the members of the committee which decides on blacklisting are not given all the reasons for blacklisting particular persons or groups. Usually, those persons or groups are not told that blacklisting has been requested, given a hearing or even, in some cases, informed of the decision — until they try to cross a frontier or use a bank account. There is no provision for independent review of these decisions".
PACE concluded that then (and still current) terror blacklisting procedures were unworthy of the UN and EU. Criticisms were levied stating that these kind of injustices did not help to fight terrorism, but to promote popular frustrations by persecuting persons without justice and transparency.
In 2010, PACE's rapporteur made a third-party submission to the
European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
in support of Nada's case against Switzerland (see below), which was ultimately successful.
European Court of Human Rights ruling
On 12 September 2012, the European Court of Human Rights decided that Switzerland had violated two Articles of the
European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Drafted in 1950 by the ...
, aka "The Convention", in particular articles 8 and 13. The court ruled that Switzerland violated Nada's human rights by restricting his cross-border movements after the United States put Nada on a blacklist on suspicion of financing terrorism.
The United States had accused Nada of helping finance the 9/11 terrorist attacks, placing him on the
United Nations Security Council Resolution 1267
United Nations Security Council resolution 1267 was adopted unanimously on 15 October 1999. After recalling resolutions 1189 (1998), 1193 (1998) and 1214 (1998) on the situation in Afghanistan, the Council designated Osama bin Laden and associ ...
terror blacklist, a sanctions list for persons associated with Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The United States refused to provide evidence to support the accusation, claiming the information was classified. Still, the terror-blacklisting left Nada in a position of being treated as a criminal, without trial, nor with any means of appeal.
The Strasbourg court ruled that "Switzerland should have taken all possible measures, within the latitude available to it, to adapt the sanctions regime to the applicant's individual situation". Switzerland was ordered to pay Nada €30,000 to cover his costs and expenses.
Egyptian businessman wins lawsuit against Switzerland, Swissinfo, Sept 12, 2012
/ref>
The decision was seminal, as it made clear that the Convention was required to be upheld, in relation to persons subject to UN terror-blacklisting, under UN SC 1267.
References
Sources
* (authorized biography of Nada)
External links
Official Personal Website
Articles in French
* http://www.tdg.ch/suisse/youssef-nada-gagne-proces-suisse/story/31352637?track
* https://www.letemps.ch/suisse/2012/09/12/juges-strasbourg-condamnent-suisse-applique-aveuglement-sanctions-onu-contre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nada, Youssef
1931 births
2024 deaths
20th-century Egyptian businesspeople
Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood members
People from Alexandria