Due to war crimes, a lifelong dungeon for a doctor

The Court of German Frankfurt sentenced the Syrian doctor to the a lifelong prison for torture and war crimes, which he did in his homeland in 2011 and 2012. It has ruled out the possibility of early releasing after 15 years of penalty, according to the German news agency dpa.

The indictment charged the 40-year-old two deaths and eight cases of severe torture in Syria in 2011 and 2012. He denies all the allegations and claims to be a victim of a conspiracy.

The Higher Provincial Court in Frankfurt found him guilty of particularly serious crimes. According to the court, he tortured civilians suspected of opposition to the regime of the then president Bashar al -Assad.

Since 2015, a man has lived in Germany, where he has worked as an orthopedic surgeon at several clinics, most recently in the federal land of Hessen. He was arrested in 2020 when he was recognized by the victims in a television documentary about the Syrian city of Homs. He has been in custody since then.

He was judged in January 2022, and more than fifty witnesses were heard as part of the trial, including his former associates at a Homs military hospital and victims of his abuses.

The trial was possible, on the basis of universal jurisdiction, a legal principle that allows countries or international organizations to prosecute individuals for serious crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, regardless of where the crime was committed and regardless of the citizenship or residence of the defendant.

Today’s decision can still be appealed to the Casation Court, according to dpa.