Ex-Syrian intelligence chief found guilty of torture and sexual abuse by Austrian court
A former Syrian intelligence chief in the city of Raqqa has been convicted in Vienna, Austria, of torture and sexual abuse against opponents of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
A second former official, who served as Raqqa’s police chief, was also found guilty of abusing political dissidents.
The Vienna ruling is considered a rare case in which a European court has exercised jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed by officials linked to Assad’s government.
The ex-intelligence chief, identified under Austrian privacy laws only as Khaled al-H., headed Syria’s General Intelligence Directorate in Raqqa from 2011, when the uprising against Assad began, until 2013, when the Free Syrian Army took control of the city. He later fled Raqqa.
Khaled al-H., who belongs to the Druze minority, was found guilty of torture.
Both he and the former police chief, named Moussab Abou R., were also convicted of sexual coercion, aggravated coercion, and causing serious bodily harm. Each was sentenced to eight years in prison.
Prosecutors said the two men repeatedly ordered or failed to prevent the abuse of anti-government protesters in Raqqa.
Both defendants denied the accusations. During the trial, Khaled al-H. insisted he neither ordered nor witnessed torture at his workplace and argued that, as a member of a minority group, he was obliged to follow orders.
The prosecution said the abuses were carried out as part of efforts to “suppress the protest movement against the regime at the time and intimidate the population.”
Several victims, former detainees from Raqqa, travelled from across Europe and Syria to give testimony. They described being stripped naked, beaten, subjected to electric shocks, and doused in hot and cold water.
One witness told the court he was struck on the soles of his feet with electric cables. Many victims were reported to suffer long-term psychological trauma as a result of the abuse.
The two men applied for asylum in Austria in 2015.
Reports also suggest that Khaled al-H. was brought to Austria by the former domestic intelligence agency (BVT) at the request of Israel’s Mossad as part of an operation known as “Operation White Milk.”
The Austrian Press Agency reported that the arrangement was overseen by former BVT chief Martin Weiss, who is now reportedly in hiding in Dubai and wanted in connection with fugitive Austrian spy Jan Marsalek, believed to be in Moscow.
Both convicted men retain the right to appeal the verdicts.
Source: BBC
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