Summary: Prosecutors said international treaties, including the UN Convention against Torture and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, oblige prosecutors to file charges.

A former brigadier general in Syrian intelligence and a former head of the local criminal investigation office with the rank of lieutenant colonel appear before a court in Austria on Monday on charges of torturing opponents of the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

Prosecutors in Vienna said in a statement that the two former officials are accused of "giving orders to mistreat members of a protest movement or failing to object to it, on several occasions."

The two former officials are accused of committing these crimes against civilians detained in Raqqa between 2011 and 2013 as part of the crackdown on protests against Bashar al-Assad.

The prosecutors' statement did not name the defendants, in line with procedures before any verdict is issued.

But the Austrian newspaper Der Standard reported that the brigadier general is Khaled al-Halabi, while the Austria Press Agency said he has been in pre-trial detention since late 2024.

In November, the New York Times published al-Halabi's name and named his co-defendant, Lieutenant Colonel Musaab abu Rakkaba, citing his lawyer.

Residents in Austria

The two defendants applied for asylum in Austria in 2015 and have lived there since.

Austrian prosecutors said in their statement, "On orders from the central government and the National Security Office of the Syrian Arab Republic, 21 people detained in prisons were subjected to torture and ill-treatment as part of the crackdown on a civilian protest movement."

When the indictment against the brigadier general in intelligence was issued, activists considered him the highest-ranking Syrian official in Europe accused of responsibility for violations. He is charged with torture, aggravated coercion, sexual coercion, and charges related to causing serious bodily harm, and faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

The lieutenant colonel in police is charged with causing serious bodily harm, aggravated coercion, and sexual coercion, and also faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

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The indictment stated that the usual 10-year statute of limitations was dropped.

Prosecutors said international treaties, including the UN Convention against Torture and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, oblige prosecutors to file charges.

Austrian law provides for the jurisdiction of local courts to consider certain crimes committed abroad.

Possible testimonies

The jurisdiction of the Vienna court is established because the defendants reside there. Hearings are scheduled over 13 days until June 30.

Expected victims residing in Syria and Europe are to testify.

Anwar al-Bunni, a Syrian lawyer based in Germany who spent five years in Syrian prisons, said the brigadier general should have faced additional charges. He considered the trial "important" but told Agence France-Presse, "I don't really know why they don't charge him with crimes against humanity."

Senior Austrian officials suspected of providing protection to the former brigadier general were acquitted in 2023 on the basis of reasonable doubt.

Prosecutors accused them of helping him obtain protection in Austria, referring to an agreement allegedly concluded in May 2015 with the Mossad.

The Mossad is believed to have smuggled him from France, where he was at the time, and brought him to Austria.

In 2016, the International Commission on Justice and Accountability, a group collecting evidence on suspected war criminals, informed Vienna of the alleged crimes committed by al-Halabi.

According to the Austria Press Agency, the agreement with the Mossad, code-named "White Milk," was supervised by Martin Weiss, then head of Austrian intelligence.

Weiss is on the run in Dubai and wanted for alleged links to another fugitive Austrian spy, Jan Marsalek, who is suspected of being under the protection of Moscow.

Tatiana Ordaneta Vitek of the International Center for the Application of Human Rights, a lawyer representing 18 of the 21 alleged victims, told the Austria Press Agency that there is a risk that Austria provides a haven for perpetrators. She added, "Austria must not become a safe haven for war criminals."