Alleged former Syrian militia leader arrested in Germany

German police have arrested a Syrian man on suspicion of crimes against humanity during his time leading a pro-Assad militia in the early stages of the Syrian civil war.

The suspect, identified only as Ahmad H., was arrested in Bremen on Wednesday, prosecutors said a day later.

What is the suspect accused of?

Prosecutors said the suspect was the leader of a militia loyal to Syrian leader Bashar Assad in the Damascus suburb of Tadamon from 2012 to 2015.

They said the militia ran checkpoints where "people were arrested arbitrarily so that they or their family members could be extorted for money, committed to forced labor or tortured."

In one incident, the suspect is alleged to have hit an arrested man in the face and ordered fellow militia members to "brutally torment" him for hours with plastic pipes.

In another incident, the suspect and other militia members allegedly beat and kicked a civilian at a checkpoint, slamming the civilian's head into the pavement and then tying him up before he was taken away by the militia.

Prosecutors also pointed to two alleged incidents where the suspect is said to have arrested a group of 25-30 people and forced them to spend a day carrying sandbags to a nearby front line, where they worked under fire without food or water and were beaten.

The militia also worked with a military intelligence wing that executed at least 47 people in the area, prosecutors said.

German prosecutors invoke 'universal jurisdiction'

On Thursday, a judge remanded the suspect in custody pending a possible indictment.

Although the alleged crimes against humanity were committed in Syria and no German citizens were involved, Germany's principle of "universal jurisdiction" means prosecutors can still pursue cases of serious crimes committed abroad, no matter who perpetrated them or who the victims were.

In 2022, this led to the first conviction of a senior Syrian official for crimes against humanity.

zc/msh (AP, AFP)