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Ex-member of Syrian military intelligence charged in Britain over 2011 protests
The UK’s first prosecution under the International Criminal Court Act charges a 58-year-old Syrian with seven offences including murder and torture linked to 2011 Damascus protests.
- On March 09, 2026, the Crown Prosecution Service charged the defendant, a 58-year-old former member of Syria's Air Force Intelligence, with three counts of murder, three counts of torture and one ancillary offence.
- From April 2011, prosecutors say the defendant led a group quelling Jobar demonstrations, following a November 2020 referral and his December 2021 arrest in Buckinghamshire.
- The Crown Prosecution Service said this is the first time it has brought such murder-as-crimes-against-humanity charges under the International Criminal Court Act 2001 in British courts.
- On Tuesday he is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court, with defence lawyers seeking reporting restrictions to protect the defendant's identity.
- The case positions the U.K. alongside continental trials using universal jurisdiction, as the prosecution is the first U.K. case of a former Assad-regime member for Syrian war crimes.
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Ex-member of Syrian military intelligence charged in Britain over 2011 protests
A former member of Syria's Air Force Intelligence has been charged in Britain with crimes against humanity in suppressing pro-democracy demonstrations in Damascus in 2011 at the start of what became the Syrian civil war.
·United Kingdom
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources15
Leaning Left4Leaning Right1Center8Last UpdatedBias Distribution61% Center
Bias Distribution
- 61% of the sources are Center
61% Center
L 31%
C 61%
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