Syria: Man tortured and kept slaves – now he is in custody

2023-08-03 17:06:00

Leader of the Shabiha militia He is said to have enslaved and tortured people in Syria. Now Ahmad H. was arrested in Bremen

The police in Bremen arrested a man who is said to have enslaved people in Syria (symbol image)

© Robert Michael / DPA

Ahmad H. was the leader of a pro-government militia in Syria. He had people tortured and enslaved, and also abused himself. Now he has to be in custody.

In A Syrian has been arrested in Bremen who is said to have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes through torture and enslavement as a member of a regime militia. Ahmad H. is being held in custody, the federal prosecutor’s office in Karlsruhe announced on Thursday. He is said to have acted as the local leader of a pro-government Shabiha militia in a district of Damascus between 2012 and 2015.

The militia was ordered by the Syrian regime to work with the military intelligence service to violently suppress opposition efforts. She regularly arrested people arbitrarily in order to extort money from them or their families, to oblige them to forced labor or to torture them, it said. They also looted the houses and apartments of suspected opponents of the regime. The secret service department working with the militia executed at least 47 people in the district.

Ahmad H. abused people in Syria

Ahmad H. is said to have participated in abuse himself. For example, he once hit a man in the face and ordered other members of the militia to beat the man with plastic pipes for hours. Another time he is said to have grabbed a civilian’s hair and banged his head on the sidewalk.

Twice he arrested 25 to 30 people and forced them to bring sandbags to the front for a day. The prisoners had to work there under fire, were beaten and received no food or water, the federal prosecutor said.

Ahmad H. was arrested on Wednesday in Bremen by officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office. On Thursday he was brought before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice, who ordered the detention on remand.

cl AFP