On Thursday, the German judiciary sentenced a former Syrian intelligence officer to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, with the conclusion of the first trial in the world centered on atrocities attributed to the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
The Regional High Court in Koblenz (western Germany) ruled that Syrian Anwar Raslan, 58, is responsible for the killing of detainees and the torture of thousands of others in a secret regime detention center in Damascus, between 2011 and 2012.
Prosecutors accused Anwar Raslan of committing 58 murders in a Damascus prison;
Prosecutors said at least 4,000 opposition activists were tortured in 2011 and 2012.
This is the second verdict issued by the German judiciary in this trial after the conviction of another lower-ranking Syrian intelligence officer in February 2021.