Daraa, Aug. 15 (SANA) Syrian Internal Security forces arrested former security officer Musab Abu Rukba in Daraa in southern Syria, weeks after an Austrian court sentenced him to eight years in prison for abuses against detainees in Raqqa.
Internal Security said on its Telegram channel Saturday that Abu Rukba, a former lieutenant colonel in the Political Security branch in Raqqa during the ousted regime, was detained as part of ongoing operations against people implicated in terrorism cases.
The security authority said legal measures would be taken against him but gave no further details on the circumstances of his arrest.
The Vienna Regional Criminal Court sentenced Abu Rukba and former security officer Khaled al-Halabi to eight years in prison each on July 6 over abuses against detainees in Raqqa between 2011 and 2013.
The court convicted Abu Rukba of physical and sexual coercion and causing serious bodily harm to detainees, according to SANA’s report on the verdict.
The case was prosecuted under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows courts to pursue certain serious international crimes regardless of where they were committed.
F.J./M.Z.
