Swedish court acquits ex-Syrian general of committing war crimes
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – A Swedish court acquitted on Thursday a former Syrian general of being involved in war crimes in Syria.
Brig. Gen. Mohammed Hamo, 65, who currently lives in Sweden, had been charged with aiding and abetting war crimes in 2012.
Hamo is considered the most senior military officer ever to be brought to trial in a European court for committing international human rights violations in Syria.
The prosecutors stated that he, as the leader of the Ordnance Department within the Syrian Army’s Division 11, had the responsibility of supplying the weapons that were used to carry out those war crimes.
The prosecutor said that Hamo was involved in the Division’s indiscriminate attacks on both military and civilian targets in the cities of Homs and Hama and their countryside.
Meanwhile, Judge Katarina Fabian said, “The main issues in the case are whether the 11th Division of the Syrian Army participated in indiscriminate attacks in certain areas and whether the defendant participated in arming the division in those attacks.”
“According to the District Court, there is no evidence to clarify these issues. The evidence presented by the prosecution has therefore not been deemed sufficient to convict the defendant of a criminal offence,” Fabian added.