Germany arrests Syrian doctor for alleged torture
A Syrian doctor living in Germany is the latest refugee to be arrested after he allegedly tortured a detainee in his home country.
The doctor is expected to be charged with crimes against humanity and causing grievous bodily harm in a military prison where he previously worked. He allegedly beat a prisoner to the point of unconsciousness after being called to aid him during an epileptic attack.
The arrest follows Germany’s efforts to hold former Syrian officials accountable who have entered the country under refugee status. Already, two other former officials were charged recently with the same crimes and have gone to trial.
The trials mark the world’s first time in dealing with state-sponsored torture in Syria. Germany has come under fire for allowing more than one million Syrians into the country, as some of them were military and security service personnel of President Bashar al-Assad.
A German human rights lawyer said he hoped the arrest would lead to cases against higher-ranking senior Syrian officials.
“My hope,” he said, “is that it will eventually lead to the investigation of the people actually responsible.”
SOURCE: The New York Times
