Former Syrian official convicted of torture under Assad faces sentencing in the US
Prosecutors seek at least 80 years, saying Samir Ousman Alsheikh ordered and joined torture to suppress dissent and hid it in immigration filings.
- A federal judge in Los Angeles is scheduled to sentence Samir Ousman Alsheikh today for torture and immigration fraud convictions stemming from his role in Syria's Adra Prison.
- Jurors found Alsheikh guilty in March of conspiracy to commit torture and three torture counts while managing Adra Prison from roughly 2005 to 2008, plus immigration fraud charges.
- Prosecutors asked District Judge Hernan Vera for a minimum 80-year sentence, citing victim testimony; Nidal Shikhani said he can "still hear the screams of others begging for mercy, repeating, Leave me, leave me."
- Defense attorneys Nina Marino and Collin Cate requested a five-year sentence, arguing Alsheikh is 74 years old with significant medical and cognitive conditions and willing to be deported.
- The case underscores accountability efforts targeting former Assad regime members; prosecutors argued Alsheikh knew his torture was wrong despite being detained at Los Angeles International Airport in July 2024.
51 Articles
51 Articles
Rulings cover 4 of 7 defendants, with verdicts for 3 others to be issued later
Of the fourteen accused, one soldier was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and two former followers of the fallen dictator were sentenced to life imprisonment and hanging for the violence of 2025, resulting in hundreds of deaths.
Syria issues first verdicts over Alawite minority killings: One death, one life, and one 20 years’ jail
ALEPPO, Sept 17 — Syria’s judiciary issued its first verdicts on Thursday over last year’s killing of hundreds of members of the Alawite minority on the Syrian coast.The court sentenced a former member of government forces to 20 years in prison for murder, while two supporters of the deposed government received a death sentence and life in prison.Fourteen people were accused of involvement in the massacres, in a trial that opened last November. …
The first people have been convicted in Syria in the case concerning the murders of hundreds of Alawites last year. A former government member received a 20-year prison sentence, a supporter of the fallen Assad regime received the death penalty, and another supporter received a life sentence.
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