Germany tries Syrian intelligence officers charged with torture

QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – Germany prosecution called, yesterday, for a life sentence against a former Syrian officer of the intelligence apparatuses of the Syrian government on charges of torture and human rights violations in Syria. 

The prosecution has accused the main defendant Anwar Reslan, who sought asylum in Germany in 2012, of perpetrating crimes against humanity between 2011 and 2012, German media outlet, DW reported.  

The 58-year-old Reslan is charged with the murder of 58 detainees and allegedly responsible for the torture of at least 4,000 people at al-Khatib detention center in Damascus, according to DW.

The principle of universal jurisdiction allows courts in Germany to try those accused of war crimes in other countries.

State prosecutor Jasper Klinge said Germany has a historic responsibility to prosecute crimes against humanity. “We owe this to the victims,” he said.

In February 2021, the German prosecution convicted the 45-year-old co-defendant Eyad al-Gharib, who was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison, for being guilty of helping to bring 30 anti-government demonstrators to the al-Khatib torture prison.

Both men, who are considered as officers of the Syrian government, were arrested in Germany in 2019 after fleeing Syria.