Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

German court jails former Syrian intelligence officer for life

German court jails former Syrian intelligence officer for life

Anwar Raslan found to have overseen murder of at least 27 people and torture of at least 4,000 at Damascus prison
A German court has sentenced a Syrian former intelligence officer to life in prison in a case the UN rights chief said could lead to accountability for other perpetrators of the war’s “unspeakable crimes”.

Anwar Raslan, a former colonel loyal to the regime who later defected and gained asylum in Germany, was deemed by the judge at Koblenz higher regional court to have verifiably overseen the murder of at least 27 and torture of at least 4,000 prisoners at a detention facility in Damascus.

It is the first case to find a senior official in the regime of Bashar al-Assad guilty of crimes against humanity.

The landmark verdict further lists Raslan’s crimes against humanity as entailing 25 cases of dangerous bodily harm, two cases of rape and sexual coercion, two cases of sexual abuse, 14 cases of deprivation of liberty lasting longer than a week, and two cases of kidnapping.

“Today’s verdict should serve to spur forward all efforts to widen the net of accountability for all perpetrators of the unspeakable crimes that have characterised this brutal conflict,” said UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, calling the verdict “historic”.

The ruling was welcomed as a symbolic step towards justice by torture survivors.

“This day, this verdict is important for all Syrians who have suffered and are still suffering from the Assad regime’s crimes”, said Ruham Hawash, a former prisoner at al-Khatib detention facility – Raslan oversaw as a commanding officer between 29 April 2011 and 7 September 2012 – and joint plaintiff in the case. “It shows us: justice should and must not remain a dream for us.”

Last February the same court in Koblenz sentenced, Eyad al-Gharib, a 44-year-old former low-ranking officer in the Syrian intelligence service to four months and six years in prison for aiding and abetting a crime against humanity.

Both Raslan and Gharib were tried under the legal principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows the prosecution of crimes in one country even if they happened elsewhere.

Over 108 trial days in the town in Germany’s south-west, the judge heard statements from almost 50 witnesses who had survived the Branch 251 facility, several of whom appeared as co-plaintiffs. They described how suspects rounded up by the regime were beaten by guards with fists, sticks, cables, and metal pipes, and held in tightly packed cells whose ventilation shafts were intermittently closed to induce panic.

The Koblenz trial also saw the photographs of the Syrian military photographer known only by his codename Caesar who smuggled shocking evidence of torture out of Assad’s dungeons, presented to a court as evidence for the first time.

Witnesses called on by the defence painted a more humane picture of the man in charge of the Branch 251 facility. One, a former air force officer turned novelist, said Raslan treated him well during his detention and interrogation at al-Khatib, offering him tea and cigarettes and conversing about literature.

Raslan protested his innocence, arguing he had secretly harboured sympathies for the Syrian opposition and tried to support its cause after defecting. He fled to Jordan in 2012 and in 2014 was granted asylum on humanitarian grounds in Germany, where he said he did not try to cover up his past.

One witness, the Syrian businessman and political dissident Riad Seif, confirmed in front of the court that he had helped Raslan’s effort to enter Germany in 2014 on a visa issued by the German embassy in Amman, by forwarding documents relating to his asylum application to the foreign ministry in Berlin.

Seif said he had supported the defected general’s case in the hope of gaining valuable information relating to the fate of other political dissidents inside al-Khatib. However, Raslan had failed to deliver: “We got nothing from Anwar Raslan, not a word.”

“Universal jurisdiction is often the last hope for victims of the most serious crimes,” said Wolfgang Kaleck, the general secretary of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), which assisted several of the co-plaintiffs in the trial.

“In any case, today’s judgment creates a solid basis for other European prosecutors to pursue further proceedings. Dealing with crimes in Syria in third countries is not ideal – but possible, and a duty towards those affected.”

Germany’s federal criminal police started investigating Raslan in 2017, after he described his role in Syria’s security apparatus in detail during an interview with Stuttgart police, supposedly to aid their investigations into another officer. He was arrested in February 2019.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Unelected PM of the UK holds an emergency meeting because a candidate got voted in… which he says is a threat to democracy…
Farmers break through police barriers in Brussels.
Ukraine Arrests Father-Son Duo In Lockbit Cybercrime Bust
US Offers $15 Million For Info On Leaders Of Cybercrime Group Lockbit
Apple warns against drying iPhones with rice
Alexei Navalny: UK sanctions Russian prison chiefs after activist's death
German economy is in 'troubled waters' - ministry
In a recent High Court hearing, the U.S. argued that Julian Assange endangered lives by releasing classified information.
Tucker Carlson says Boris Johnson wants "a million dollars, in Bitcoin or cash, from Tucker Carlson to talk about Ukraine.
Russia is rebuilding capacity to destabilize European countries, new UK report warns
EU Commission wants anti-drone defenses at Brussels HQ
Von der Leyen’s 2nd-term pitch: More military might, less climate talk
EU Investigates TikTok for Child Safety Concerns
EU Launches Probe Into TikTok Over Child Protection Under Digital Content Law
EU and UK Announce Joint Effort on Migration
Ministers Confirm Proposal to Prohibit Mobile Phone Usage in English Schools
Avdiivka - Symbol Of Ukrainian Resistance Now In Control Of Russian Troops
"Historic Step": Zelensky Signs Security Pact With Germany
"Historic Step": Zelensky Signs Security Pact With Germany
Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny has died at the Arctic prison colony
Tucker Carlson grocery shopping in Russia. This is so interesting.
France and Germany Struggle to Align on European Defense Strategy
‘A lot higher than we expected’: Russian arms production worries Europe’s war planners
Greece Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage and Adoption Rights
Russia "Very Close" To Creating Cancer Vaccines, Says Vladimir Putin
Hungarian Foreign Minister: Europeans will lose Europe, the Union's policy must change drastically
Microsoft says it caught hackers from China, Russia and Iran using its AI tools
US Rejects Putin's Ceasefire Offer in Ukraine
The Dangers of Wildfire Smoke and Self-Protection Strategies
A Londoner has been arrested for expressing his Christian beliefs.
Chinese Women Favor AI Boyfriends Over Humans
Greece must address role in migrant vessel disaster that killed 600: Amnesty
Google pledges 25 million euros to boost AI skills in Europe
Hungarian President Katalin Novák Steps Down Amid Pardon Controversy
Activist crashes Hillary Clinton's speech, calls her a 'war criminal.'
In El Salvador, the 'Trump of Latin America' stuns the world with a speech slamming woke policing after winning a landslide election
Trudeau reacts to Putin's mention of Canadian Parliament applauding a former Ukrainian Nazi in his interview with Tucker Carlson.
The Spanish police blocked the farmers protest. So the farmers went out and moved the police car out of the way.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy fires top Ukraine army commander
Tucker Carlson's interview with Vladimir Putin raises EU concerns
Finnish Airline, Finnair, is voluntarily weighing passengers to better estimate flight cargo weight
Russia's Economy Expands by 3.6% Due to Increased Military Spending
Ukraine MPs Vote To Permit Use Of Dead Soldiers' Sperm
German Princess Becomes First Aristocrat To Pose Naked On Playboy Cover
UK’s King Charles III diagnosed with cancer
EU's Ursula von der Leyen Confronts Farmer Protests Amid Land Policy Debates
Distinguishing Between Harmful AI Media and Positive AI-Generated Content: A Crucial Challenge for the EU
Tucker Carlson explains why he interviewed Putin
Dutch farmers are still protesting in the Netherlands against the government, following the World Economic Forum's call for 'owning nothing.'
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stands up for European farmers and says, 'Brussels is suffocating European farmers.
×