A new trial for crimes against humanity opened on Wednesday January 19 in Frankfurt, Germany. This time, it is a doctor accused of torture in military prisons of the Assad regime who risks a life sentence for crimes against humanity. The man had been living in Germany since 2015. This trial opens after the judgment pronounced a few days ago in Düsseldorf against a colonel in the Syrian army, also accused of crimes against humanity.
From our correspondent in Berlin, Pascal Thibault
Victims of fractures operated on without anesthesia, alcohol poured on the genitals of detainees before burning them, a prisoner killed by a lethal injection: the torture committed by the doctor Alaa M. illustrates the close involvement of medical personnel in Syrian prisons to support the repressive regime in Damascus.
A fanatical Assad supporter
The accused is presented by the prosecution as a fanatical supporter of President Assad. German justice accuses him of eighteen cases of torture and one murder. He had been living in Germany since 2015. Accused of crimes against humanity, he faces life imprisonment.
Alaa M. is not one of the many refugees who have left their country in the past decade. But he received a visa to work in a Germany lacking doctors. Alaa M. had since worked in various hospitals before being recognized by compatriots and arrested two years ago by the German courts.
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