Anwar Raslan, a former colonel in the Syrian intelligence services with a leading role in the suppression of political dissent under the regime of Bashar al-Assad, was sentenced to life in prison in Germany for crimes against humanity.
The man is accused of thousands of cases of torture (at least 4 thousand) and the death of many prisoners.
The Supreme Regional Court of Koblenz has expressed its opinion at the end of a trial that lasted almost two years and 108 hearings, defined by many as "political" and which is based on the principle, applied by German justice, of universal jurisdiction. Over 80 witnesses heard, many of them victims of torture.
Raslan, 58, was arrested in Berlin in 2019 where he was staying as a "political refugee".
According to the Koblenz court, the man committed crimes between 2011 and 2012 while carrying out his assignment at the infamous department 251 in Damascus, a prison of the Syrian secret services known for the brutality of its treatments.
(Unioneonline / L)