Dutch court sentences former Syrian regime figure to 26 years in prison

A Dutch court has sentenced a former Syrian regime figure to 26 years in prison after finding him guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Judicial authorities in the Netherlands prosecuted Rafik al-Qatrib, a former member of the regime-linked National Defence Forces militia, before a district court in The Hague on charges related to serious violations committed against civilians in Syria.

The court handed al-Qatrib a 26-year prison sentence over allegations of grave abuses carried out during recent years against Syrian citizens.

The trial was part of ongoing efforts to pursue and hold accountable former regime officials accused of crimes and violations against the Syrian people.

According to Syrian media reports, al-Qatrib worked as an investigator for the National Defence Forces militia in the city of Salamiyah in the central province of Hama.

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Previously, Syria TV quoted former detainee Ziad Daas as saying that al-Qatrib supervised torture carried out by personnel under his command.

Daas said al-Qatrib’s treatment of detainees was marked by cruelty and humiliation, adding that he directly ordered prisoners to be beaten and regularly used abusive and insulting language.

During earlier court hearings, prosecutors presented a long list of alleged abuses, including the beating and kicking of a man, striking him with a rifle butt, extinguishing cigarette ends on another man’s body, using an electric stun gun on a young woman’s chest and genital area, and the rape of another woman.

In one hearing, the judge read aloud a victim’s testimony, which stated: “I felt deeply ashamed and dirty when I was released.”

Several European countries have conducted trials of individuals linked to the former Syrian regime over alleged war crimes committed before they fled Syria amid the country’s deteriorating security situation.

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