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Syrian Jailed for Life in Austria for Murdering Regime Forces | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Pro-regime forces stand on a street in the Syrian town of Yabroud. (Joseph Eid / AFP/Getty Images)


Cologne (German)- An Austrian court has jailed a 27-year-old Syrian for life on charges of committing crimes against humanity while fighting against Bashar Assad’s forces alongside the Free Army.

The court in the western city of Innsbruck announced its ruling late Wednesday after a jury found the 27-year-old guilty of 20 charges of “murder as a terror offence”.

The man, who denied the charges, was detained in a refugee shelter in Tyrol state last June after being denounced by a fellow Syrian.

After his arrest, the man admitted to General Security investigators that he had killed at least 20 wounded pro-Assad forces in Homs in central Syria between the years 2013 and 2014.

The prosecution said the accused had boasted to other asylum seekers of belonging to a rebel unit and shooting unarmed or injured troops loyal to Assad.

The man said his testimony had been badly translated.

But the translator rejected this in court: “The defendant told me he had shot badly wounded soldiers. I asked him to repeat his claim and he did.”

The man, who was not named, had lived in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria. He told investigators that he had participated along with his brothers in an anti-Assad demonstration and that security forces were pursuing him for that.

He added that Assad’s forces killed his brothers and that he took up arms in self-defense.

His lawyer said he would appeal against the ruling.

It is worth nothing that extremist organizations are moving their activities from Germany to Austria to escape strong security measures taken against them in Berlin and other German cities.

An expert in Berlin warned that the extremists are reorganizing themselves to escape tight surveillance in Germany.

In January, two men were arrested in Austria and Germany on charges of belonging to a secret organization and plotting an imminent terrorist attack.