- Title: Syrian suspect in Dutch court for wartime execution
- Date: 2nd September 2019
- Summary: SCHIPHOL, THE NETHERLANDS (SEPTEMBER 2, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF JUDGES ENTERING COURTROOM, TAKING SEAT SIGN FOR PROSECUTOR DUTCH PROSECUTOR WIEGER VELDHUIS TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) PROSECUTOR, WIEGER VELDHUIS, SAYING: "The defendant is suspected of two crimes committed in Syria during the period 2012 and 2013 at the time and in the context of the armed conflict in Syria. First, the defendant is accused of executing a Syrian lieutenant-colonel who no longer took part in the hostilities." COURT INTERPRETER HOLDING PAPERS INTERPRETER (SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) PROSECUTOR, WIEGER VELDHUIS, SAYING: "Secondly, the defendant is suspected of participating in a terrorist organisation, namely al Qaeda and/or Jabhat al Nusra and/or Ghuraba'a Mohassan in the period June 2012 to October 2013 in or near Mohassan and/or Deir Al Zor in Syria. The defendant is also accused of leading this organisation.'' VARIOUS OF DEFENCE LAWYER ANDRE SEEBREGTS LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (Dutch) PROSECUTOR, WIEGER VELDHUIS, SAYING: "On behalf of the accused, the counsel informed us that the defendant was present at the execution. Since the defendant has so far invoked his right to remain silent about this incident, I have demanded an interrogation of the defendant before the examining magistrate and have also requested that this interrogation be delegated to the police.'' SEEBREGTS TALKING IN COURTROOM JUDGES LEAVING COURTROOM SEEBREGTS' HANDS SEEBREGTS TALKING TO MAN (SOUNDBITE) (English) DEFENCE LAWYER, ANDRE SEEBREGTS, SAYING: "The reason he was there, was that at the moment of the execution two of his brothers were being held by (Syrian President Bashar al) Assad's regime and the brothers were also being tortured. The client was there to see whether the man who was being held by others could perhaps be traded for his two brothers as happened in a later stage: another soldier from Assad's regime was in the end traded against his two brothers.'' VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ENTERING SCHIPHOL'S JUSTICE COMPLEX WHERE HEARING WAS HELD VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF SCHIPHOL'S JUSTICE COMPLEX
- Embargoed: 16th September 2019 12:26
- Keywords: Nusra Front Syria Ahmad al Khedr Abu Khuder charges execution Dutch law
- Location: SCHIPHOL, THE NETHERLANDS
- City: SCHIPHOL, THE NETHERLANDS
- Country: Netherlands
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA001AUYTY6F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Lawyers for a Syrian accused of war crimes in the Netherlands for allegedly participating in an execution during the country's civil war denied on Monday (September 2) that their client was a member of the radical Nusra Front.
Ahmad al Khedr, also known as Abu Khuder, faces charges of murder and membership of a terrorist group under Dutch universal jurisdiction laws. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if found guilty.
This is the first time a Syrian national has been charged with war crimes under Dutch jurisdiction laws. The case against Al Khedr marks only the second time a Dutch court has looked at crimes committed during the war in Syria, the earlier case targeting Dutch Islamists who fought in the conflict.
Al Khedr allegedly led a battalion known as Ghuraba'a Mohassan, or Strangers of Mohassan, but his lawyer said he had been lying when he told a journalist he was a member of the Nusra Front.
Prosecutors say the defendant participated in the summary execution of a captured Syrian soldier in July 2012. Videos of the execution circulated on the internet, they said.
Seebregts said Al Khedr admitted being at the site of the execution, but denied he participated in the killing.
Dutch authorities say Abu Khuder, who was arrested in May, had been in the Netherlands since 2014, where he had been granted temporary asylum. The charges against him are based on witness testimonies provided by German police.
The next hearing was set for November 18.
Under Dutch law, genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed on foreign soil can be prosecuted under universal jurisdiction if a suspect resides in the Netherlands.
The latest incarnation of the Nusra Front, which was part of al Qaeda until 2016, is Tahrir al-Sham. An amalgamation of Islamist groups dominated by the former Nusra, it is the most powerful armed group in Syria's northwest.
(Production Hilde Verweij, Bart Biesemans) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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