COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — At least seven people have been detained in Germany and Sweden on suspicion of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in Syria in 2012-2014, authorities in both countries announced Wednesday.
In a coordinated effort that also involved the European Union’s judicial cooperation agency, Eurojust, the EU’s police agency, Europol, and several other unnamed European countries, four were arrested in Germany and three in Sweden.
The German federal prosecutor said those detained in Germany were “strongly suspected of killing and attempting to kill civilians.” Some of those arrested were also suspected of torture.
The four arrested in Germany are known only as Jihad A., Mahmoud A., Sameer S. and Wael S. and were affiliated with the Free Palestine Movement, an armed militia in Syria, since early 2011. German prosecutors have not given their opinion. surnames in accordance with privacy rules. Sweden has not identified the three it arrested.
At the time, the militia exercised control over the mainly Palestinian al-Yarmouk district of Damascus on behalf of the Syrian regime, Germany’s federal prosecutor said. Since July 2013, the Syrian regime has completely isolated the area, resulting in a shortage of food, water and medical supplies.
Among other crimes, all suspects allegedly participated in the violent repression of a peaceful anti-government protest in al-Yarmouk on July 13, 2012, specifically targeting civilian protesters and shooting at them. Six people died while others were seriously injured, the German statement said.
The German federal prosecutor alleged that some of them also severely and repeatedly abused al-Yarmouk civilians. The events occurred between mid-2012 and 2014.
In one case, an individual was handed over to the Syrian Military Intelligence Service, which allegedly imprisoned and tortured him. In another case, a woman was allegedly forced to pay with her family jewels for the release of her minor son and was threatened with rape.
Three of the detainees – Jihad A., Sameer S. and Wael S. – are stateless Syrian Palestinians, while Mazhar J. is a Syrian citizen.
The four were arrested in Berlin, in Frankenthal and near Boizenburg, in southwest and northeast Germany respectively. The home of another suspect, whose name was not released and who was not arrested, was searched in the city of Essen, in the west of the country.
They will be presented to an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice, who will read the arrest warrants and decide on preventive detention. Arraignment will take place Monday and Tuesday, the prosecutor’s statement said.
In Sweden, the Public Prosecutor’s Office did not provide details about those detained. The prosecuting authority said it must be decided before noon on Saturday whether they should be detained or released.
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Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin contributed to this report.
