Former Syrian prison chief charged with torture and conspiracy in US

Former Syrian prison chief charged with torture and conspiracy in US
2024-12-13T05:27:06+00:00

Shafaq News/ US authorities have charged Samir Othman Al-Sheikh, who oversaw the notorious Adra Prison in Syria from 2005 to 2008 under the ousted President Bashar al-Assad, with torture and conspiracy to commit torture by a federal grand jury.

Federal officials arrested the 72-year-old at Los Angeles International Airport in July on immigration fraud charges, specifically for denying in his visa and US citizenship applications that he had persecuted anyone in Syria, according to a criminal complaint. He had purchased a round-trip ticket to leave Los Angeles International Airport on July 10, en route to Beirut, Lebanon.

As the head of Adra Prison, Al-Sheikh allegedly ordered subordinates to inflict severe physical and mental pain on prisoners and directly participated in such acts. He reportedly ordered prisoners to the "punishment wing," where they were beaten while suspended from the ceiling with their arms outstretched and subjected to a device that folded their bodies in half at the waist, sometimes causing spinal fractures, according to federal officials.

His attorney, Nina Marino, stated in an emailed statement, "Our client vehemently denies these politically motivated false allegations," describing the case as a "misleading use" of government resources by the US Department of Justice to "prosecute a foreign national for alleged crimes in a foreign country against non-US citizens."

Officials said Al-Sheikh began his career in police leadership roles before moving to the Syrian State Security apparatus, which focused on combating political opposition. He later became the head of Adra Prison and a brigadier general in 2005. In 2011, he was appointed governor of Deir ez-Zor, a region northeast of the Syrian capital Damascus, where violent crackdowns on protesters occurred.

The indictment alleges that Al-Sheikh immigrated to the United States in 2020 and applied for citizenship in 2023.

US authorities have also charged two Syrian officials with running a prison and torture center at the Mezzeh Airbase in Damascus, according to an indictment unsealed on Monday. Among the victims were Syrians, Americans, and dual nationals, including 26-year-old American aid worker Layla Shweikani, according to prosecutors and the Syrian Emergency Task Force.

Federal prosecutors said they have issued arrest warrants for the two officials who remain at large.

Muaz Mustafa, executive director of the US-based Syrian Emergency Task Force, stated, "This is a significant step towards justice... The prosecution of Samir Othman Al-Sheikh reaffirms that the United States will not allow war criminals to come and live in the US without accountability, even if their victims are not US citizens."

If convicted, Al-Sheikh faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit torture, in addition to a maximum of 10 years for each count of immigration fraud.

(With Reuters Input)

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