Vienna, July 6 (SANA) Austria’s regional criminal court in Vienna on Monday sentenced former officers of the deposed regime, Khaled al-Halabi and Musab Abu Rakba, to eight years in prison each after convicting them of torture and abuses against detainees in Syria during the early years of the Syrian revolution.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), Khaled al-Halabi, 63, a former brigadier general in the deposed regime’s intelligence service, and Musab Abu Rakba, 54, a former lieutenant colonel and head of a local criminal investigation office in Raqqa, were convicted on charges including torture, sexual coercion and causing serious bodily harm.
Prosecutors accused the two men of repeatedly ordering or failing to prevent the abuse of detainees between 2011 and 2013. Several former detainees testified that they were severely beaten and tortured while the defendants were responsible for the detention facilities.
The case is the latest in Europe involving former officials of the deposed regime accused of crimes committed during the Syrian revolution under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows national courts to prosecute certain serious crimes regardless of where they were committed.
kA.MZ
