Two Syrian men, including a former intelligence officer and a former senior Syrian police official, are on trial in Vienna, Austria, over allegations that they tortured opponents of the now-deposed Bashar al-Assad regime more than a decade ago. Prosecutors accuse the defendants—described as a former brigadier general in Syrian intelligence and a former head of an investigations office of the local criminal police—of acting, or failing to act, regarding the mistreatment of members of a protest movement. The alleged crimes are said to have occurred in Raqqa between April 2011 and March 2013, during the Syrian civil war.
The trial is expected to last about a month and includes testimony from alleged victims. The charges listed across reports include torture and sexual-related offences. One outlet also notes the specific legal framing of the accusations, including torture, aggravated coercion, sexual coercion, and inflicting serious bodily harm.
Both defendants deny the accusations and pleaded not guilty when the trial began, disputing claims tied to the alleged abuse of detainees and opponents of Assad’s government.
