{"id":133596,"date":"2025-12-22T12:11:23","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T12:11:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?p=133596"},"modified":"2025-12-22T12:11:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T12:11:25","slug":"germany-charges-ex-syrian-intelligence-guard-with-crimes-against-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/133596\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany charges ex-Syrian intelligence guard with crimes against humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013<\/strong> German federal prosecutors charged on Monday a suspected former member of Syria\u2019s intelligence services with crimes against humanity, including the torture and murder of dozens of detainees held in a Damascus prison under ousted President Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement, prosecutors said the suspect, identified as Fahad A. under German privacy laws, was arrested in May and is accused of working as a prison guard in the Syrian capital between late April 2011 and mid-April 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to investigators, the accused took part in more than 100 interrogations in which prisoners were subjected to severe physical abuse, including electric shocks and beatings with cables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Prosecutors added that, acting on orders from his superiors, the suspect also abused inmates at night by hanging them from the ceiling, dousing them with cold water, or forcing them to remain in painful positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/germany-charges-suspected-former-syrian-intelligence-agent-with-murder-assad-2025-12-22\/\">Reuters<\/a> reported that at least 70 prisoners are believed to have died as a result of the torture and the prison\u2019s catastrophic conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The case is being pursued under Germany\u2019s universal jurisdiction laws, which allow courts to prosecute crimes against humanity regardless of where they were committed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Germany has emerged as a leading venue for prosecuting alleged war crimes linked to the Syrian conflict, having previously secured landmark convictions against former Syrian intelligence officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Several suspects have been arrested in recent years, as Germany is home to around one million Syrians, many of whom fled the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>By Jwan Shekaki<\/strong><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 German federal prosecutors charged on Monday a suspected former member of Syria\u2019s intelligence services with crimes against humanity, including the torture and murder of dozens of detainees held in a Damascus prison under ousted President Bashar al-Assad. In a statement, prosecutors said the suspect, identified as Fahad A. under German [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":133597,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-world"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Germany charges ex-Syrian intelligence guard with crimes against humanity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) \u2013 German federal prosecutors charged on Monday a suspected former member of Syria\u2019s intelligence services with crimes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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