German Court Sentences Alleged Syrian Intelligence Officer to Life Behind Bars

BERLIN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th January, 2022) The regional court in the German city of Koblenz in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate on Thursday sentenced Syrian national Anwar Raslan, believed to be an officer of the Syrian special services, to life in prison for crimes against humanity.

According to the prosecution, Raslan participated in widespread and systematic repression against civilians from April 29, 2011, to September 7, 2012. In April 2020, a legal action against Raslan was started in Germany where he resided for several years. The German authorities alleged that there was a special torture unit, called Branch 251, near Damascus, claiming that 4,000 people went through it from 2011-2012 alone.

"The first criminal division ... of the Koblenz Higher Regional Court sentenced today a 58-year-old Syrian citizen Anwar R.

to life imprisonment, having declared him guilty in crimes against humanity in the form of murder, torture, aggravated imprisonment, rape and sexual abuse," the court said in a statement quoted by German broadcaster n-tv.

The statement listed 27 cases of murder, 25 cases of infliction of heavy bodily injuries, aggravated rape, two cases of sexual assault, 14 cases of imprisonment for more than a week, two cases of taking hostages and three cases of sexual violence against prisoners.

In 2019, Syrian President Bashar Assad, in an interview with the RT broadcaster, firmly dismissed claims about the government running "torture units" that apply violent methods against dissenters.