German federal authorities have arrested a Syrian man in Berlin suspected of carrying out brutal acts of torture and murder during the country’s civil war in 2011.
Several officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office detained Anwar S. in the Berlin district of Neukölln on Tuesday morning. According to the Federal Prosecutor General, he is accused of murder, torture, deprivation of liberty, and crimes against humanity as part of a pro-Assad militia that suppressed protests in Aleppo at the start of the Syrian conflict.
A video obtained by the newspaper Die Welt, reportedly recorded in 2011, shows armed regime supporters attacking anti-government demonstrators outside a mosque in Aleppo with batons. Shouts of “Do you want freedom?” can be heard as the mob clubs civilians to the ground. German investigators say the footage corresponds to testimony that Anwar S., as a militia leader, repeatedly inflicted severe violence on opposition members.
Prosecutors allege that on at least eight occasions, Anwar S. ordered or carried out beatings with batons, electric shockers, and metal bars to disperse protests. Some of the detainees were then handed over to Syria’s intelligence service, where they were tortured in custody. In one incident in Aleppo’s Saif Al Dawla district, a demonstrator allegedly died shortly after being severely beaten in the suspect’s presence.
The arrest took place near a shisha café in Neukölln, according to Welt. Anwar S. is expected to appear before an investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice on Wednesday, who will decide on the execution of an arrest warrant.
It is unclear how the suspect arrived in Germany, and whether or not he claimed and was granted asylum.
Germany has taken in close to one million Syrians since 2015, making them the largest immigrant group in the country over the past decade. The Assad regime was overthrown last year, and Syria is now ruled by Islamist Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al-Qaeda commander.
