Germany convicts Syria ex-intelligence agent in landmark torture trial

Name: Entering its 10th year, Syrian civil war remains the 21st century’s deadliest conflict so far
Uploaded: 2021-02-24T10:03:51.000Z
Duration: 3 min 3 s
Description: Entering its 10th year, Syrian civil war remains the 21st century’s deadliest conflict so far

Eyad al-Gharib was sentenced to four years and six months in prison for facilitating the torture of civilians in 2011

The judgment is the first in the world related to the brutal repression of protesters by President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus

3-MIN READ3-MIN

Former Syrian intelligence service agent Eyad al-Gharib arrives to hear his verdict in a courtroom on Wednesday in Koblenz, Germany. Photo: AFP

Agence France-Presse

Published: 6:03pm, 24 Feb 2021Updated: 6:03pm, 24 Feb 2021

A German court on Wednesday convicted a former Syrian intelligence service agent for complicity in crimes against humanity, in the first court case worldwide over state-sponsored torture by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Eyad al-Gharib, 44, was found guilty over his role in helping to arrest protesters and deliver them to a detention centre in Damascus in autumn 2011.

“The accused is sentenced to four years and six months for aiding and abetting a crime against humanity in the form of torture and deprivation of liberty,” judge Anne Kerber said.

Gharib hid his face from the cameras with a folder as the verdict was read out, arms folded and wearing a medical mask.

Almost 10 years since the Arab spring reached Syria on March 15, 2011, the judgment is the first in the world related to the brutal repression of protesters by the regime in Damascus.

03:03

Entering its 10th year, Syrian civil war remains the 21st century’s deadliest conflict so far

Gharib, a former low-ranking member of the intelligence service, is accused of helping to arrest at least 30 protesters and deliver them to the Al-Khatib detention centre in Damascus after a rally in Duma.