A former Syrian general and a former police officer are set to hear their verdict on Monday in Vienna, Austria, for alleged torture of opponents of Bashar Assad's regime. The trial, which began in June, is the latest in a series of European court cases using universal jurisdiction to prosecute serious crimes committed abroad.
Charges and Defendants
Khaled Al-Halabi, 63, a former brigadier general in Syrian intelligence, faces charges of torture, aggravated coercion, sexual coercion, and multiple counts of serious bodily harm. He has been in pre-trial detention since 2024. Musab Abu Rukbah, 54, a former local police lieutenant colonel, is accused of serious bodily harm, aggravated coercion, and sexual coercion in Raqqa between April 2011 and March 2013. Both pleaded not guilty and face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Witness Testimonies
Several detainees testified in court about severe beatings by guards while the accused were in command. One man recounted how Al-Halabi interrogated him while the soles of his feet were beaten with electric cables. Another detainee said he was held naked for eight or nine days and repeatedly doused with cold water. The prosecution alleged that Halabi received "direct instructions" from the Damascus government and used violence "systematically" with "standardised torture methods," including beatings and hosing down.
Universal Jurisdiction in European Courts
Syrian officials have faced trials in France, Germany, Sweden, and Belgium for alleged crimes during the civil war. Austrian prosecutors accused the duo of "having, on numerous occasions, ordered or failed to oppose the mistreatment of members of a protest movement." Halabi, a Druze who fled Raqqa in 2013 before Daesh overran the city, denied that torture occurred under his command.
Asylum and Controversy
Both Syrians applied for asylum in Austria in 2015. Senior Austrian officials suspected of protecting Halabi were acquitted in 2023. Prosecutors had accused them of helping him obtain protection, referencing an alleged 2015 agreement with Israel's Mossad intelligence service, code-named "White Milk," overseen by then-Austrian intelligence chief Martin Weiss. Weiss is now on the run in Dubai, wanted for suspected links to fugitive Austrian spy Jan Marsalek, who is believed to be protected by Moscow. Halabi told the court that relatives helped him, not Mossad.
