They are alleged to have killed and tortured civilians on behalf of the Syrian regime. A total of eight suspected war criminals have now been arrested in Germany and Sweden.
In 2012, those arrested are alleged to have been involved in the violent suppression of a demonstration in a district of the capital Damascus, in which at least six people died. The German Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office accuses the five suspects arrested in Germany of killing and attempting to kill civilians as crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Four defendants are also accused of torture, and there is a further strong suspicion of deprivation of liberty resulting in death and war crimes against property. The suspects are a Syrian citizen and four stateless Palestinians.
The three people arrested in Sweden are Swedish nationals, Ulrika Bentelius Egelrud, public prosecutor and head of the investigation, announced on Tuesday. They are alleged to have committed serious violations of international law in Syria in 2012. She did not provide further details on the accusations against these three individuals.
The Free Palestine Movement (FPM) militia, to which all those arrested in Germany and Sweden are attributed, is said to have exercised control in the predominantly Palestinian district of Al-Yarmouk in Damascus from 2011. In addition to suppressing the demonstration, several suspects are alleged to have repeatedly subjected civilians there to massive physical abuse and made arrests.
Killing, torture – Syrian war criminals arrested abroad | krone.at
