San Francisco Frontiers - Two Syrians deny civil war torture accusations in Austria trial

The two face charges including torture, aggravated coercion, sexual coercion and inflicting serious bodily harm. Prosecutors accused them of "having, on numerous occasions, ordered or failed to oppose the mistreatment of members of a protest movement".

Brigadier General Khaled al-Halabi, 63, a former Syrian intelligence officer who has been in pre-trial detention since 2024, and Lieutenant Colonel Musab Abu Rukbah, a 54-year-old former police chief, are said to have committed the crimes in the city of Raqa between April 2011 and March 2013.

Both pleaded not guilty.

Several similar cases relating to crimes committed during the Syrian civil war have been tried in other countries, including Germany, France and Sweden.

Halabi -- a Druze, who fled Raqa in 2013, just before the Islamic State group overran the city -- denied that torture took place while he was in command.

"There were no instructions" from the government to use violence, he told the court through a translator as masked, armed police stood watch.

He added his unit just took down the personal details of those held and did not conduct any investigations.

Abu Rukbah did not testify. His lawyer, Philipp Wolm, said there was no evidence against him.

- 'Standardised torture methods' -

The prosecution said Halabi got "direct instructions" from the Damascus government and violence was used "systematically" with "standardised torture methods," including beatings and being hosed down.

The two Syrians applied for asylum in Austria in 2015.

At the time of Halabi's indictment, activists considered him the highest-ranking Syrian official responsible for abuses present in Europe.

He is charged with torture, aggravated coercion, sexual coercion, as well as multiple counts of serious bodily harm. Abu Rukbah is accused of serious bodily harm, aggravated coercion and sexual coercion. Both face up to 10 years in prison.

"Twenty-one individuals detained in prisons were tortured and abused as part of the crackdown on a civilian protest movement," Austrian prosecutors said in their statement deny civahead of the trial.

The 10-year statute of limitations that would ordinarily apply was lifted, the indictment said.

International treaties including the United Nations Convention Against Torture and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court meant prosecutors were obliged to bring charges, it said.

Austrian law provides for the jurisdiction of local courts over certain offences committed abroad.

- Alleged victims to testify -

The Vienna court has jurisdiction because the defendants reside there. The trial is scheduled to last until June 30 with alleged victims residing in Syria and Europe expected to testify.

Anwar al-Bunni, a Syrian lawyer based in Germany who himself spent five years in Syrian prisons and was present for Monday's trial opening, said the general should have faced additional charges.

He called the trial "important" but told AFP: "I don't know really why they don't charge him with crimes against humanity".

Senior Austrian officials suspected of having protected the former brigadier general were acquitted in 2023.

Prosecutors had accused them of helping him obtain protection in the Alpine country, referencing an agreement allegedly concluded in May 2015 with the Israeli Mossad intelligence.

Mossad is said to have brought the Syrian military officer to Austria from France, where he was at the time, according to local media.

When asked in court, Halabi said relatives helped him.

In 2016, the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA), a group that gathers evidence for alleged war criminals, informed Vienna of Halabi's alleged crimes.

According to Austrian news agency APA, the agreement with Mossad, code-named "White Milk", had been overseen by Martin Weiss, then head of the Austrian intelligence service (BVT).

Weiss is on the run in Dubai and wanted for supposed links to fugitive Austrian spy, Jan Marsalek, who is suspected of being protected by Moscow.

Y.Harris--SFF