Overview

• The 47-year-old Syrian man was found guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed between 2012 and 2015 in Damascus as a leader of the Shabiha militia.
• The court detailed his involvement in torturing detainees, forcing civilians into dangerous front-line labor, and using his position to intimidate and exploit local shopkeepers.
• German authorities arrested the man in 2023 after he was recognized by a fellow Syrian asylum seeker in a Bremen shelter.
• The Shabiha militia, aligned with the Assad regime, was tasked with violently suppressing opposition during the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011.
• This case was prosecuted under Germany’s universal jurisdiction laws, allowing war crimes and crimes against humanity to be tried regardless of where they occurred.