Germany: 5 arrested on suspicion of war crimes in Syria

Five men suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria have been arrested in Germany. Three others have been arrested in Sweden.

On board the helicopter were five men arrested by German police. Four were stateless people of Palestinian origin, members of an armed militia. The fifth was a former Syrian intelligence agent.

They are suspected of having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Syria, between 2012 and 2014, on behalf of the Bashar Al-Assad regime.

The events are said to have taken place in Damascus during the civil war.

“We accuse these people of shooting at protesters in the Al-Yarmouk neighborhood, killing them or inflicting massive bodily injuries, including torture, on civilians at checkpoints.” said Ines Peterson, spokeswoman for the German public prosecutor’s office.

In connection with this case, three other suspects were arrested in Sweden. The arrests were carried out within the framework of judicial cooperation between several European countries, with the support of the agencies Europol and Eurojust.

Germany, which took in hundreds of thousands of Syrians between 2015 and 2016, has already arrested and tried some of them for atrocities committed during the civil war, which left more than 500,000 dead and displaced millions.