Overview

• The July 16 indictment by the Federal Prosecutor in Karlsruhe invokes Germany’s universal jurisdiction to target alleged Assad-era perpetrators.
• Four of the suspects are accused militia members; the fifth served in Syrian military intelligence; all hold stateless Syrian-Palestinian status.
• Investigators allege the group opened fire on a peaceful demonstration in Damascus’s Yarmouk district in July 2012, killing at least six civilians.
• Prosecutors say they detained civilians multiple times; subjected them to beatings at checkpoints; handed many over to military intelligence; some detainees later died under brutal conditions.
• Arrested in Germany on July 3, 2024, all five suspects remain in pretrial detention as the Koblenz Higher Regional Court considers the indictment.