Syrian doctor Alaa Mousa from Homs is tried before the Higher Regional Court for torture. He war working as an trauma surgeon and orthopedist in Germany until his arrest.
German newspaper BILD reports:
He should have been an angel in white. But he apparently decided to give his patients hell on earth. Now the Syrian torture doctor Alaa M. (36) is standing before the State Protection Senate of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Frankfurt.
The charge is crimes against humanity. He is accused of torture in 18 cases, as well as murder and serious bodily harm.
The Syrian entered the courtroom handcuffed at 10:04 am Wednesday – his face hidden under the hood of a winter jacket. He wore a white shirt over a blue suit jacket with a white handkerchief. His hair was shorter on the sides and he wore an FFP2 mask over his mouth and nose. He stared at the ground, motionless, until the end of the indictment at 10:44 am.
Then he gave information about himself in German (with an accent): born on May 4, 1985, married, father of a son (7) and a daughter. The family lives in Kassel, he in JVA I in Frankfurt. He is supported by three defense attorneys.
Alaa M. is said to have tortured 18 prisoners between 2011 and 2012 in an army hospital and in a military intelligence prison in Homs, Syria. Alaa M. is said to have even killed one of them. The victims allegedly belonged to the opposition to dictator Bashar al-Assad (56).
Alaa M. is said to have tortured 18 prisoners between 2011 and 2012 in an army hospital and in a military intelligence prison in Homs, Syria. Alaa M. is said to have even killed one of them. The victims allegedly belonged to the opposition to dictator Bashar al-Assad (56).
Unbelievable: After arriving in Germany in May 2015, he received his German license to practice medicine (state doctor's license) in August, and from February 2016 the 36-year-old practiced as an assistant doctor in the spa town of Bad Wildungen (Hessen) until September 2017.
Then, from January 2018 to March 2019, he worked in the orthopedic clinic in Hessisch Lichtenau. When asked by BILD, the clinic did not want to comment. Then, in April 2019, he got a job as an assistant doctor in trauma surgery in Göttingen, passed the German specialist examination in August 2019 – and went back to Bad Wildungen as a specialist in orthopedics in October 2019. According to his own statements, he earned 7,000 to 12,000 euros net per month here – with 200 to 300 working hours per month.
A spokeswoman for the Bad Wildunger Clinic told BILD: "We had no knowledge of Mr. M.'s past." There had never been any complaints - neither from patients nor from colleagues. The spokeswoman continued: "We are dismayed by the allegations and at the same time have confidence in the German constitutional state that the right action and decision will be taken."
Incidentally, Syrian hospitals described the accused in their testimonies as a "hard-working doctor" who was "very ambitious" - with "good character" and "good reputation". According to a certificate from the Syrian Medical Association, there were "no professional violations" (as of May 2015). His university in Aleppo, where he studied human medicine, also spoke of an "impeccable career" and "good and nice dealings with his patients". The Syrian certificate of good conduct remained without entries.
It was not until June 19, 2020 that the police arrested him at 8 p.m. at work - since then M. has been in custody.
More reporting by BILD:
The charge is crimes against humanity. But the Syrian torture doctor Alaa M. (36) put all the blame on the power of the military and the system of violence and oppression before the state security senate of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Frankfurt.
"I came to terms with the regime, just like millions in Syria," said Alaa M. at the beginning of his statement. He said of the victims of the violence: "I felt sorry for them, but I couldn't do anything. The 36-year-old is accused of torture in 18 cases, as well as murder and serious bodily harm. He initially did not comment on these allegations.
The main excuse: “The military secret service has more power than the normal military or the police.” The chief doctor at the army hospital in Homs, where he worked, had “a lot of trouble” with the secret service, which, among other things, investigated opponents of the regime and demonstrators in accompanied the hospital.
"I didn't ask," said M. when asked what the patients were accused of. He did not see the treatments. Sometimes he heard about deaths from cardiac arrest or pulmonary embolism when handing over the service.
The presiding judge Christoph Koller had to follow up several times until Alaa M. gave details: He did not know the names of his patients, they were numbered. Everyone was tied up. Some had blindfolds so they could not see during the torture.
He didn't say anything against it. For fear of the secret service. "Then I would have been in that man's place."
Alaa M. is said to have tortured 18 prisoners between 2011 and 2012 in an army hospital and in a military intelligence prison in Homs, Syria. Alaa M. is said to have even killed one of them. The victims allegedly belonged to the opposition to dictator Bashar al-Assad (56).
The federal prosecutor accuses the Syrian of these acts:
▶ Penis attacks: In the summer of 2011, the doctor is said to have poured alcohol over the genitals of a young person (14 to 15 years old at the time) and set them on fire in the emergency room. According to the indictment, he said to the boy: "Let's see if you're really a man."
▶ Death injection: A prisoner who resisted was said to have been pinned to the ground and beaten. Then, according to the indictment, he gave him an injection – the man died.
▶ Hanging torture: M. is also said to have hung prisoners by his hands on the ceiling and abused them several times
Unbelievable: After entering Germany, the horror doctor received the German license (state medical license), from February 2016 the 36-year-old practiced until September 2017 as an assistant doctor in the spa town of Bad Wildungen (Hesse).
More reporting by WELT:
Alaa M. enters the courtroom with his hood pulled low over his face, literally slumped in his parka and with his hands tied in front of his body. The 36-year-old Syrian doctor has had to answer to the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court (OLG) since Wednesday for crimes against humanity.
The reading of the indictment lasts a good three-quarters of an hour, in which the federal prosecutors also go into detail about the violent suppression of the opposition in Syria after the Arab Spring and the situation in the military prisons - prisons like the one in Homs, where M. is said to have tortured .
According to the indictment, between April 2011 and the end of 2012 he worked as a resident in a military hospital in his hometown of Homs. There, as well as in another military hospital in Damascus and in the prison of the Syrian military secret service in Homs, the man is said to have tortured detained civilians who were attributed to the opposition to ruler Bashar al-Assad.
Excessive violence, torture in everything from the emergency room to the underground cellars where prisoners were crammed together in appalling conditions - M. is said to have been part of the system and even bragged about his actions to fellow doctors.
For example, he told colleagues that he "kicked over a cockroach today," according to the prosecutor's list. On another occasion, he boasted that he had "invented a new method of torture" by burning genitals.
According to the indictment, a 14 to 15-year-old boy was among the victims of this brutal violence. The orthopedist is said to have treated broken bones without anesthesia and stepped on inflamed wounds of a prisoner.
The accused, meanwhile without a parka, in a white shirt and jacket, listens to the reading of the indictment with half-closed eyes and his head slightly bowed. M., who has been practicing medicine in Germany since 2015, does not need the interpreter sitting next to him.
He also talks about himself in accent-colored but good German: He comes from a Christian family, is married and has two children. It was clear to him early on that he also wanted to practice abroad. According to his own statements, he attended two language courses in England while he was still studying, but then decided in 2009 that he would rather learn German.
This determination is also certified in the job references, which are then read out. He is said to have been ambitious and polite to his superiors – someone who does his duty.
Remarkable: According to his curriculum vitae and the certificates, which also formed the basis for his employment contract with a clinic in northern Hesse, he was continuously employed at the Damascus Municipal Hospital from 2010 to 2015.
There is no mention of military hospitals. In the coming week, M. wants to comment on the allegations against him in his testimony before the court.
"We will describe our client's steps point by point and step by step and then we will compare that (with the testimony of witnesses)," announces one of the defense attorneys after the first day of the trial. "We will refute what we heard today in the indictment of the GBA (Federal Prosecutor's Office)."
"Today's start of the trial is a clear commitment by the German judiciary to the principle of universal jurisdiction and to the basic humanitarian concept of international criminal law," emphasizes Anna Zabeck, chief public prosecutor and prosecutor in the trial, after the first day of the trial. "The procedure is a strong signal against impunity for the most serious crimes against humanity."
The small group of Syrians, who have come from several cities in Germany, the Netherlands and France, are also hoping for clarification and more international attention. Some are carrying Syrian flags that read "Freedom." They hold up placards with pictures of people believed to have disappeared.
According to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, the world's first criminal case involving state torture in Syria before the Koblenz Higher Regional Court came to an end only last week. Syrian Anwar R. was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen