A Viennese court on Monday sentenced a Syrian ex-general and a former police officer to eight years in jail for torturing opponents of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad. The landmark ruling follows a trial that has also generated significant media attention in Austria due to allegations of a secret intelligence agreement.
Khaled al-Halabi, 63, a former brigadier general in Syria’s intelligence services, was found guilty of torture, aggravated coercion, sexual coercion, and multiple counts of serious bodily harm. Musab Abu Rukbah, 54, who served as a former police lieutenant colonel, was likewise convicted of serious bodily harm, aggravated coercion, and sexual coercion.
The court determined that the abuses committed by the pair, which took place in the Syrian city of Raqa between April 2011 and March 2013, were part of a “systematic torture organised by the state.” Both men had pleaded not guilty at the commencement of their trial in June.
During the proceedings, several victims provided harrowing testimonies, recounting severe beatings by guards operating under the command of Halabi and Rukbah. One man told the court he was held naked for eight or nine days with cold water repeatedly poured on him, adding, “I’m still afraid to this day.” He also described being interrogated by Halabi while the soles of his feet were beaten with electric cables.
In addition to the prison sentences, the court ordered Halabi and Rukbah to pay a combined total of €130,000 in compensation to the victims. Only one acquittal was issued in a specific case where violence against a victim could not be definitively proven.
The case has been closely watched in Austria, where both Syrians applied for asylum in 2015. Prosecutors had claimed that a secret agreement between Austrian and Israeli intelligence services allowed Halabi to settle in the Alpine nation. This alleged deal, reportedly concluded in May 2015 with Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, supposedly facilitated the Syrian military officer’s transfer to Austria from France, where he was at the time, according to media reports. Halabi, a member of the Druze minority who fled Raqa in 2013 just before the Islamic State group overran the city, denied that torture occurred under his supervision, telling the court he received help from relatives.
Senior Austrian officials, who were suspected of having protected the former brigadier general, were acquitted in 2023 of charges that they helped Halabi obtain sanctuary. Halabi has been in custody since late December 2024, and this pre-trial detention period will be credited towards his eight-year sentence. Defence lawyers for the convicted pair have not yet indicated whether they will appeal Monday’s judgment.
This case aligns with broader international efforts, as former Syrian officials have also faced prosecution in other European countries, including France, Germany, Sweden, and Belgium, for crimes allegedly committed during the country’s civil war.
READ ALSO: Five Austrians on trial over allegedly granting asylum to Syrian ex-general
