Swiss government imposes sanctions on Syria

The Cabinet has passed a measure restricting arms sales to Syria, and freezing the assets and banning the travel to Switzerland of 13 senior Syrian officials.

The Swiss government says it is imposing sanctions against Syria because of the country’s continued violent repression of peaceful protesters.

The Cabinet has passed a measure restricting arms sales to Syria, and freezing the assets and banning the travel to Switzerland of 13 senior Syrian officials.

Swiss banks that hold assets belonging to any of the 13 officials, including Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brother Maher Assad, will have to declare them to the government immediately.

The government says the arms embargo won’t have any immediate effect as Switzerland hasn’t exported weapons to Syria in over a decade.

The measures agreed on Wednesday bring Switzerland in line with sanctions imposed by the European Union on May 9.