German court convicts former Syrian secret police officer of crimes against humanity

SARAJEVO, (Patria) -  The Higher Regional Court in Koblenz on Wednesday sentenced a Syrian national and former member of the Syrian secret police to four and a half years in prison for participation in a crime against humanity.

Eyad A. belonged to the special units of the secret police of Bashar al-Assad's regime and in that capacity participated in the arrest and torture of detainees.

The former secret police special forces officer (44), who came to Germany as a refugee, is specifically accused of torturing some 30 participants in protests against Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, which he committed and coordinated together with the first defendant Anwar R., whose trial continues.

The court in Koblenz is convinced that the accused was aware that those arrested would be tortured and killed in prison.

The German public prosecutor's office accuses both of numerous tortures and murders of political prisoners in the notorious Al-Khatib prison in Damascus.

According to the reasoning of the verdict, Eyad A. was responsible for four city districts of Damascus, where, among other things, he coordinated the surveillance of mosques.

Eyad A. and Anwar R. were arrested in 2019 after being recognized on the street by compatriots who knew them from prison.

This is the first case in which members of the Syrian regime have been tried abroad.