Germany’s Federal Prosecutor has filed charges against a man suspected of being a former guard at a Syrian intelligence prison during the rule of ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
The suspect, identified only as “Fahd A.” under German privacy laws, is accused of murder, torture, and unlawful detention, classified as crimes against humanity. He also faces charges of murder in this context.
The indictment was submitted on December 10 to the State Security Division of the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz. The man was arrested in May in Pirmasens, western Germany, and has been held in pre-trial detention since.
Investigators believe he worked between April 2011 and April 2012 at a prison run by Syrian intelligence in Damascus.
He allegedly took part in more than 100 interrogations where detainees were severely abused, including electric shocks and beatings with cables. At least 70 prisoners died as a result of mistreatment and catastrophic detention conditions.
The statement noted that, acting on orders from his superiors, the accused also abused prisoners at night, hanging them from ceilings, dousing them with cold water, or forcing them into painful positions.
German prosecutors relied on universal jurisdiction laws, which allow prosecution of crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.
Based on these laws, several suspects accused of war crimes during the Syrian conflict have been arrested in Germany in recent years, where about one million Syrians reside.
Sources - Agencies
