Ex-Syrian colonel appears in UK court on charges of crimes against humanity
📖 Full Retelling
<p>Salem Al-Salem faces landmark trial over alleged role in crackdown on protests in Damascus in 2011</p><p>A former Syrian colonel has appeared in a London court to face charges of crimes against humanity in the first prosecution of its kind in England and Wales.</p><p>Salem Al-Salem is charged with murder and torture, crimes allegedly committed during the Syrian government’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Damascus in 2011.</p> <a hre
Entity Intersection Graph
No entity connections available yet for this article.
Original Source
Ex-Syrian colonel appears in UK court on charges of crimes against humanity Salem Al-Salem faces landmark trial over alleged role in crackdown on protests in Damascus in 2011 A former Syrian colonel has appeared in a London court to face charges of crimes against humanity in the first prosecution of its kind in England and Wales. Salem Al-Salem is charged with murder and torture, crimes allegedly committed during the Syrian government’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Damascus in 2011. Al-Salem, who fled to the UK, is alleged to have played a leading role in the violence at the start of the uprising against Bashar al-Assad, which led to a civil war and the eventual overthrow of Assad’s regime in 2024 . The 58-year-old faces three counts of murder as a crime against humanity, three of torture and one of conduct ancillary to murder. The crimes are alleged to have happened while Al-Salem was serving as a colonel in the Syrian air force intelligence department, leading a group that attempted to quell demonstrations in Jobar, a village on the outskirts of Damascus. Al-Salem appeared at Westminster magistrates court via video link on Tuesday with a breathing tube over his mouth. The court was told he had motor neurone disease and was housebound. The chief magistrate, Paul Goldspring, agreed he did not need to give his name because of his health condition, but refused his lawyer’s request for reporting restrictions to protect his identity. “Naming the defendant would not lead to enhanced risk,” he said. The case marks the first time the Crown Prosecution Service has brought charges of murder as a crime against humanity under the International Criminal Court Act 2001. A UK court convicted the Afghan warlord Faryadi Sarwar Zardad in 2005 of a “heinous” campaign of torture and hostage taking. The charges against Al-Salem relate to the murders of Omal Al-Homsi, Nizar Fayoumi-AlKhatib, Mohammed Salim Zahrak Balik and Talhat Dalal in April and July 2011. He ...
Read full article at source