Austria Puts Khaled Al-Halabi On Trial For Raqqa Torture And Sexual Abuse

Austrian prosecutors put a former Syrian intelligence chief on trial in Vienna on Monday, June 1, charging him and a second former security official over alleged torture and sexual abuse tied to the crackdown in Raqqa between April 2011 and March 2013.

“A former Syrian general has pleaded not guilty in an Austrian court to torturing opponents of ousted President Bashar al-Assad”

Al Jazeera

The Straits Times said the primary defendant, identified only as Khaled al-H under Austrian privacy rules, was head of Syria's General Intelligence Directorate in Raqqa from the uprising against Bashar al-Assad in 2011 until the Free Syrian Army took over the city in 2013, and that he pleaded not guilty.

Al Jazeera

Prosecutors said the second defendant was a senior police official in Raqqa nicknamed "the Angel of Death," and that both defendants face charges including causing serious bodily harm, aggravated coercion and sexual assault, with only Khaled al-H accused of torture.

The Straits Times reported that the trial is due to last a month and will include alleged victims' testimony, and that the defendants face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

France 24 reported that Brigadier General Khaled al-Halabi, 63, and Lieutenant Colonel Musab Abu Rukbah, a 54-year-old former police chief, pleaded not guilty as the trial started in Vienna.

In court, Khaled al-H told the presiding judge, "Impossible. That would not be in my interest. It is also not how I was raised," when asked if he had used violence against anyone in his custody.

France 24 said the prosecution accused Halabi of having "direct instructions" from the Damascus government and of violence being used "systematically" with "standardised torture methods," including beatings and being hosed down.

Arab News

The Straits Times reported that Khaled al-H said no prisoners stayed overnight and denied ever having seen a torture device known as the "magic carpet".

France 24 added that Halabi told the court through a translator as masked, armed police stood watch that there were "no instructions" from the government to use violence.

Anwar al-Bunni, a Syrian lawyer based in Germany, said the trial was "important" but told AFP he did not know why prosecutors did not charge crimes against humanity, while Arab News reported that the indictment said the 10-year statute of limitations was lifted.

Vienna prosecutors said 21 people detained in prisons affiliated with the former Syrian regime were subjected to torture and ill-treatment as part of a campaign targeting the civilian protest movement that erupted in Syria in 2011.

“Austria Tries Assad Officers Over Raqqa Torture A court in Vienna, Austria, began on Monday, June 1, the trial of two former officials in the security apparatuses of the former Syrian regime, who face charges related to torturing opposition figures and committing abuses against civilians during the early years of the Syrian conflict”

Enab Baladi

The Straits Times reported that the trial is scheduled to last until June 30 and will include alleged victims' testimony, while Enab Baladi said hearings are scheduled to continue over 13 days until June 30 with expectations that several victims and witnesses living in Syria and various European countries will testify.

Enab Baladi said the indictment stated that judicial authorities dropped the application of the usual ten-year statute of limitations, citing Austria’s international obligations under the United Nations Convention against Torture and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Arab News reported that the Vienna court has jurisdiction because the defendants reside there, and that alleged victims living in Syria and Europe are expected to testify over the 13 hearing days scheduled through June 30.

Enab Baladi also said Austrian prosecutors did not disclose the defendants’ names in line with judicial procedures before verdicts are issued, while SANA said the proceedings are expected to continue through the end of June.