Trial against 2 syrian intelligence operatives started in Koblenz

Germany newspaper "Welt" reports:

"For the first time in Germany, criminal proceedings have been launched against two men for alleged involvement in Syrian state torture. The main defendant Anwar R. (57) had his attorney declared before the Koblenz Higher Regional Court on Thursday that he would not give written comments on the allegations until the third day of the trial (April 27). The second defendant Eyad A. (43), however, wants to remain silent, according to his defender.

The federal prosecutor's office speaks of “the world's first criminal proceedings against members of the Assad regime for crimes against humanity” (file number 1 StE 9/19). Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is said to be responsible for a cruel machine of torture in his country of civil war. The Federal Prosecutor's Office bases its 104-page indictment on testimony from two dozen suspected victims of torture.

The two Syrian defendants were recognized by suspected victims after their escape in Germany and were arrested in February 2019 in Berlin and in the Palatinate Zweibrücken. The charges accuse Anwar R. of crimes against humanity in 2011 and 2012. She accuses him of 58 times murder, rape and serious sexual assault in Syria. Eyad A. is accused of aiding and abetting a crime against humanity in 2011.

Anwar R. was said to have been responsible for the brutal torture of at least 4,000 people in a prison run by the General Secret Service in the Syrian capital Damascus. At least 58 prisoners died as a result. Eyad A., arrested in Zweibrücken, is accused of having brought at least 30 demonstrators to the torture prison with inhumane conditions of detention. The indictment speaks of brutal physical and psychological abuse. The victims were beaten, kicked and electrocuted.

Several of the alleged torture victims who testified also participated in the trial as co-plaintiffs. The trial began on Thursday with strict security precautions and was dominated by the highly contagious corona virus: only every third seat in the audience area of ​​the largest courtroom in Koblenz was allowed to be occupied. Numerous process participants wore face masks. For the time being, 24 negotiation days are scheduled until August 13th."