Germany begins trial of Syrian doctor for crimes against humanity

Frankfurt’s higher regional court began on Wednesday the trial of Syrian doctor, Alaa Mousa, 36, for crimes against humanity including torture and murder, while working at Syrian regime military hospitals in 2011 and 2012.

According to federal prosecutors, Mousa faces 18 counts of torturing detainees in Homs and Damascus, including setting fire to a teenage boy’s genitals as well as administering a lethal injection to a prisoner who resisted being beaten

Mousa who was still practicing medicine at a local hospital in Germany at the time of his arrest, denies the charges.

German federal prosecutors have relied on evidence collected by the Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research from victims who had allegedly been tortured by Mousa.

READ: Ex-Syria intelligence official jailed for life in Germany for crimes against humanity

The Syrian Center welcomed in a statement the start of Mousa’s trial, saying some of his victims had nicknamed him the “torture doctor.”

The Syrian Center has been collecting evidence against Syrian war criminals for years and had helped build the case against the former Syrian colonel Anwar Raslan, who was sentenced to life in jail by a German court last week.

Raslan, 58, who defected 10 years ago, was found guilty of overseeing the murder of 27 people and the torture of 4,000 others at a Damascus detention centre a decade ago.