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4mo ago

German Court Hands Life Sentence to Syrian Militiaman for Civil War Atrocities

The Stuttgart court convicted the 33-year-old ex-militiaman based on dozens of witnesses whose accounts emerged after Assad’s December 2024 overthrow.

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The man convicted on Monday, previously named by the court as Ammar A, was arrested in December 2023 in the southern state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, of which Stuttgart is the capital
Shortly after the outbreak of anti-Assad protests in early 2011, the man joined a pro-government Shia militia in his southern hometown of Bosra al-Sham

Overview

  • The court found the defendant led a Hezbollah-supported militia in Bosra al-Sham that murdered, tortured and forcibly displaced Sunni civilians.
  • The 42-day trial featured testimony from 30 witnesses—mostly Syrians now living abroad—who detailed raids, beatings and detentions in 2012 and 2013.
  • Prosecutors introduced photographs of detention facilities and damaged homes that became available after Assad’s fall last December.
  • Arrested in December 2023 in Baden-Württemberg, the man was tried under Germany’s universal jurisdiction laws for crimes against humanity.
  • The life sentence follows landmark convictions such as the 2022 jailing of former colonel Anwar Raslan for state-sponsored torture.