Berlin
A Syrian doctor living in Germany who was arrested on suspicion of having committed crimes against humanity in Syria faces more charges including one case of murder, German prosecutors said Monday.
The suspect, identified as Alaa M., was arrested on June 19. He was first charged with two instances of torturing detainees at a prison run by Syrian intelligence services in the city of Homs in 2011.
But prosecutors said he now stands accused of far more violations than initially thought — including for allegedly killing one person and another 18 counts of torture.
Alaa M. was a doctor at the military prison in Homs in 2011 when he allegedly carried out horrific abuses including setting fire to the genitals of a teenager. In 2012, he sought out a detainee whose wounds became infected and who had been transferred to a military hospital.
Together with two other officers, Alaa M. allegedly kicked and beat the prisoner, and poured flammable liquids on his wounds before setting them on fire.
He also kicked and beat the detainee, who subsequently lost consciousness. Several days later, Alaa M. is accused of going to the particularly detainee’s prison cell, where he went on to beat and kick the 20 other prisoners in the cell. One of them, named only as O., sought to defend himself.
“Shortly after, the defendant administered an injection with a lethal substance into his upper arm, from which he died a few minutes later,” said prosecutors. Alaa M. left Syria in mid-2015 and moved to Germany, where he also practiced as a doctor.—Agencies
