Two historic judgments handed down in Germany

Eyad al-Gharib awaits his judgment in the court of Koblenz.

AFP - THOMAS LOHNES

Text by: RFI Follow

2 min

Two important judgments were pronounced, this Wednesday February 24 in the morning, in Germany.

The first concerns a former member of the Syrian security forces - a refugee in Germany - and convicted of complicity in crimes against humanity, a legal first.

Another verdict struck the alleged mastermind of the Islamic State organization in Germany.

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With our correspondent in Berlin,

Pascal Thibault

This is a historic first.

Ten years after the start of the popular uprising in Syria, the Koblenz Regional High Court sentenced a former member of the Syrian intelligence service to four and a half years in prison for complicity in crimes against humanity.

Eyad al-Gharib was accused of having participated in the arrest of at least thirty demonstrators, in the fall of 2011, victims of torture.

A deserter

Al-Gharib then deserted and left his country to reach Germany.

Witnesses, Syrian refugees in Germany, testified to recount the abuse suffered in the prison where Eyad al-Gharib worked.

He is the first to be condemned.

The Koblenz trial will continue until the fall against the main defendant, Anwar Raslan, who played a central role in the Syrian repression system.

He is being prosecuted for crimes against humanity for the death of 58 people and the torture of 4,000 people.

Three years of trial

Finally, in Celle, Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah Abdullah known as “Abu Walaa” was sentenced to ten and a half years in prison for belonging to a foreign terrorist organization.

A conviction that ends a long trial that lasted three years.

The Iraqi is considered to be the brain of the Islamic State organization in Germany where he recruited volunteer fighters sent to Syria or Iraq.

To read also: The abuses attributed to the Syrian regime become clearer at the Koblenz trial

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  • Germany

  • Justice

  • Terrorism

  • Syria

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