蜜芽传媒

A German court has sentenced a Syrian colonel to life in prison for crimes against humanity in a historic trial. Anwar Raslan, 58, was linked to the torture of over 4,000 people in Syria's civil war in a jail known as "Hell on Earth" during a crackdown by President Assad's regime on anti-government protests in Syria in 2011.聽The trial in Koblenz is the world's first criminal case brought over state-led torture in Syria.

Wassim Mukdad was imprisoned at a detention centre known as Branch 251 and was tortured by Raslan there. He was a plaintiff at the trial and has been testifying against him. He describes how he was hit and beaten by the security forces there, and what it was like to be interrogated by Raslan. He says the aim was to "terrorise and punish us for taking a stand against the regime".

"it's a clear signal that tortures committed in the prison's of the intelligence forces of Syria are crimes against humanity."

Photo: Former Syrian intelligence officer Anwar Raslan (blurred) at a courthouse in Koblenz on the last day of his trial Credit: Reuters

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