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Status: 02/24/2021 10:50 am
The Koblenz Higher Regional Court has sentenced a Syrian to four and a half years in prison for complicity in crimes against humanity. Eyad A. is said to have imprisoned the protesters in 2011, knowing that they were threatened with torture.
In the world’s first trial for murder and torture by the Syrian state, the Koblenz Higher Regional Court handed down its first sentence. The court sentenced co-defendant Eyad A. to four and a half years in prison for complicity in crimes against humanity in the form of torture and serious deprivation of liberty. The federal prosecutor had demanded five and a half years in prison and the defense acquittal.
The trial against the main accused continues
Trials against main defendant Anwar R. are expected to continue through the fall. The case against both defendants was split last week.
The two defendants arrived in Germany as Syrian refugees and were arrested here. Anwar R. was recognized in Germany by a previous victim of torture.
The fact that the process takes place in Germany is due to the principle of international law in international criminal law. According to this, acts that are not directly related to Germany can also be negotiated.
Knowledge of systematic torture
According to the indictment, A. and R. are said to have belonged to the Syrian secret service of the ruler Bashar al-Assad. A. is said to have worked in a subdivision and accompanied the transport of 30 detained protesters, who were reportedly beaten on the way to prison. The prosecution is convinced that A. was aware of the systematic torture in prison when the people were arrested.
Active for the Syrian secret service since 1996
The judge presiding over the sentence, Anne Kerber, referred in the grounds of the sentence to A.’s former activity for the Syrian secret service, which had already started in 1996, where she supervised physical training as a physical trainer. His self-description was: “You have to force people to endure more.”
Starting in 2004, he completed his training in the fight against terrorism and learned how to carry out arrests, fight ambushes or install himself. In Damascus, A. was responsible for four districts according to the sentence. His job was to guard mosques and spy on imams. He passed the information on to superiors.
