Dutch court convicts Syria pro-gov’t fighter on war crimes charges
Al Jazeera
Mustafa A, 35, is sentenced to 12 years in prison for war crimes in Syria by a district court in The Hague.
A district court in The Hague has convicted a former member of a Syrian pro-government armed group for complicity in torture and illegal arrest in Syria and sentenced him to 12 years in prison.
Judges ruled on Monday that the 35-year-old man, identified in court only as Mustafa A, was involved in the arrest of a man in 2012 in Syria. He later handed the man over to Syrian Air Force intelligence officials who ran a prison where he was tortured.
The court said the defendant was a leading member of the Liwa al-Quds, or the Jerusalem Brigade. Liwa al-Quds is an armed group, comprised mostly of Palestinian refugees living in Syria and founded during the early years of Syria’s more than 12-year war.
Mustafa A was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity for complicity in torture, inhumane treatment and illegal arrest and also for membership in a criminal organisation.
Arrested in 2022, he had been living in the Netherlands since 2020 and had applied for asylum there.
