Torture trial against Syrian former officials opens in Vienna
A trial has begun in Vienna court against two former Syrian officials. They are accused of torturing and severely mistreating opponents of the regime.
Torture trial against Syrian former officials opens in Vienna
On Monday morning shortly after 9:30 a.m., Vienna court took up the hearing against two former Syrian officials. The accused are charged with torturing opposition figures under the Assad regime. Both men deny the allegations.
The focus is on Khaled al-Halabi, 63 years old, a former general in the Syrian secret services. He has been in pre-trial custody since the end of 2024. The second defendant, Musab Abu Rukhbah, formerly headed the investigation department of the local criminal police. Both applied for asylum in Austria in 2015 and have lived there since.
Austrian justice has jurisdiction because the suspects reside in the country. International agreements also oblige prosecution. In total, thirteen hearing days are scheduled until 30 June. Witnesses from Syria and Europe are to testify. An earlier trial for torture in Syria took place in Germany in 2022; there a former intelligence officer was sentenced to life imprisonment.
According to the public prosecutor's office, al-Halabi received "direct orders" from Damascus. Therein, violence was applied "systematically", with "standardised torture methods". The defendant, who belongs to the Druze community, rejected the allegations. "There were no corresponding orders from the government," he said through an interpreter. He is charged with torture, serious coercion, sexual coercion, and multiple counts of serious assault. The maximum possible sentence is ten years.
Syrian lawyer Anwar al-Bunni, who lives in Germany and himself spent five years in Syrian prisons, observed the start of the trial. He criticised the charges as too lenient. "This trial is important, but I really don't understand why he is not charged with crimes against humanity," he said. In Germany, similar acts would be punished more severely.
Abu Rukhbah must also answer for serious assault, serious coercion and sexual coercion. He also faces up to ten years in prison.
The presence of the former general in Austria had already raised questions. In 2023, senior Austrian officials were acquitted of allegedly helping to arrange protection for al-Halabi. The defendant stated that he had been assisted by relatives in his flight, but could not remember more.
The prosecution relies on an agreement from May 2015 with Israeli Mossad. According to this, the intelligence service allegedly smuggled the military out of France and brought him to Austria. According to the APA agency, the operation "White Milk" was headed by Martin Weiss, then head of the Austrian State Security Service (BVT). Weiss is now on the run in Dubai and is being sought for connections to another fleeing Austrian spy, Jan Marsalek, who is allegedly protected by Moscow. "Austria must not become a refuge for war criminals," demands Tatiana Urdaneta Wittek from the International Centre for the Enforcement of Human Rights (CEHRI), which represents 18 of the 21 known victims.
Source: Le Quotidien
Source: Le Quotidien