Germany charges ex-Syrian prison guard over Assad-era abuses

Prosecutors impeach the official, named arsenic Fahad A, of torturing dozens of prisoners successful jailhouse tally by Syrian intelligence.

German prosecutors person charged a erstwhile Syrian information authoritative with crimes against humanity, accusing him of torturing dozens of prisoners astatine a Damascus jailhouse portion ex-President Bashar al-Assad was successful power.

Germany’s Federal Public Prosecutor General’s bureau announced the indictment connected Monday, alleging the ex-prison guard, named lone arsenic Fahad A, took portion successful much than 100 interrogations betwixt 2011 and 2012 successful which prisoners were “subjected to terrible carnal abuse”.

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The maltreatment included electrical shocks, cablegram beatings, forced accent positions and suspensions from the ceiling, according to a connection by the prosecutor’s office.

“As ‌a effect of specified mistreatment and the catastrophic situation conditions, astatine slightest ‌70 prisoners died,” said the statement, noting the erstwhile defender is besides charged with murder.

The authoritative was arrested connected May 27 and formally indicted connected December 10.

He is being held successful pre-trial detention, the German prosecutor’s bureau added.

Syrians person demanded justness for crimes committed nether the decades-long regularisation of al-Assad, who was removed from powerfulness in December 2024 aft a accelerated rebel offensive.

The Assad regime, which was accused of wide quality rights abuses, including the torture of detainees and enforced disappearances, fell aft astir 14 years of civilian war.

Universal jurisdiction

In Germany, prosecutors person ⁠used cosmopolitan jurisdiction laws to question trials for suspects successful crimes against humanity committed anyplace successful the world.

Based connected ‌these laws, respective radical suspected of warfare crimes during the Syrian struggle person been arrested successful the past ‍few years successful Germany, which is location to astir 1 cardinal Syrians.

In June, a tribunal successful Frankfurt handed a beingness sentence to a Syrian doc convicted of carrying retired acts of torture arsenic portion of al-Assad’s crackdown connected dissent.

The doctor, Alaa Mousa, was accused of torturing patients astatine subject hospitals successful Damascus and Homs, wherever governmental prisoners were regularly brought for expected treatment.

Witnesses described Mousa pouring flammable liquid connected a prisoner’s wounds earlier mounting them alight and kicking the antheral successful the face, shattering his teeth. In different incident, the doc was accused of injecting a detainee with a fatal substance for refusing to beryllium beaten.

One erstwhile captive described the Damascus infirmary wherever helium was held arsenic a “slaughterhouse”.

Presiding judge, Christoph Koller, said the verdict underscored the “brutality of Assad’s dictatorial, unjust regime”.