Former general for Syria’s Assad pleads not guilty in torture trial

A former Syrian general has pleaded not guilty in an Austrian court to torturing opponents of ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

Brigadier General Khaled al-Halabi made his plea as the trial opened on Monday in the Austrian capital, Vienna. Alongside police chief Lieutenant Colonel Musab Abu Rukba, al-Halabi faces charges including torture, aggravated coercion, sexual coercion and inflicting serious bodily harm. Both face up to 10 years in prison.

Former intelligence officer Al-Halabi, 63, has been in pre-trial detention since 2024. Along with 54-year-old Abu Rukbah, he is alleged to have committed the crimes in the Syrian city of Raqqa between April 2011 and March 2013.

Several similar cases relating to crimes committed during the Syrian civil war have been tried in other countries, including Germany, France and Sweden.

Prosecutors accused the pair of “having, on numerous occasions, ordered or failed to oppose the mistreatment of members of a protest movement”.

Halabi – a Druze, who fled Raqqa in 2013, just before ISIL overran the city – denied that torture happened while he was in command.

There were “no instructions” from the government to use violence, he told the court through a translator as masked, armed police stood guard.

He added his unit just took down the personal details of those held and did not conduct any investigations.

At the time of Halabi’s indictment, activists considered him the highest-ranking Syrian official responsible for abuses present in Europe.

Abu Rukbah did not testify. His lawyer, Philipp Wolm, said there was no evidence against him.

The two Syrians applied for Austrian asylum in 2015. The Vienna court has jurisdiction because the defendants reside there.

The prosecution said Halabi received “direct instructions” from the Assad government and violence was used “systematically” with “standardised torture methods”, including beatings and being hosed down.

“Twenty-one individuals detained in prisons were tortured and abused as part of the crackdown on a civilian protest movement,” Austrian prosecutors said in their statement ahead of the trial.

In 2016, the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA), a group that gathers evidence for alleged war criminals, informed Vienna of Halabi’s alleged crimes.

The trial is scheduled to last until June 30, with alleged victims living in Syria and Europe expected to testify.