The regional court in the German city of Koblenz in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate on Thurs-day sentenced Syrian national Anwar Raslan, believed to be an officer of the Syrian special services, to life in prison for crimes against humanity.
According to the prosecution, Raslan partici-pated in widespread and systematic repression against civilians from April 29, 2011, to September 7, 2012.
In April 2020, a legal action against Raslan was started in Germany where he resided for several years. The German authorities alleged that there was a special torture unit, called Branch 251, near Da-mascus, claiming that 4,000 people went through it from 2011-2012 alone.
“The first criminal division … of the Koblenz Higher Regional Court sentenced today a 58-year-old Syrian citizen Anwar R.to life imprisonment, having declared him guilty in crimes against humanity in the form of murder, torture, aggravated im-prisonment, rape and sexual abuse,” the court said in a statement quoted by German broadcaster ntv.—AP
