On April 14, the trial of former Syrian Brigadier General Khaled al-Halabi, 63, opened in Vienna, Austria. Al-Halabi pleaded not guilty to charges related to the torture of protesters against the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad.
The second defendant is Police Lieutenant Colonel Musab Abu Rukba, 54. Both face charges including torture, severe coercion, sexual coercion, and grievous bodily harm. Under Austrian law, each charge carries a potential sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
According to the indictment, the alleged crimes occurred in the city of Raqqa, Syria, between April 2011 and March 2013. Al-Halabi, a member of the Druze community, left Raqqa in 2013, shortly before the Islamic State (ISIL) seized the city.
Prosecutors accuse both men of “repeatedly ordering or failing to prevent the abuse of members of a protest movement.” The indictment states: “21 people detained in prisons were tortured and abused as part of the suppression of a civil protest movement.”
Prosecutors allege that al-Halabi received “direct orders from the Assad government” and that violence was used “systematically” with “standardized torture methods,” including beatings and using water hoses on detainees.
Testifying in court through an interpreter, al-Halabi denied that torture occurred under his command. He asserted there were “no orders from the government” to use violence and said his unit only recorded detainees’ personal information without conducting any investigations.
Philipp Wolm, lawyer for defendant Abu Rukba, argued there was no evidence against his client.
Both defendants sought asylum in Austria in 2015. The Vienna court has jurisdiction because the defendants reside in the city. Al-Halabi has been in pre-trial detention since 2024.
The Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA), a group that collects evidence of war crimes, notified Vienna authorities of the allegations against al-Halabi in 2016.
The trial is expected to run until June 30. Alleged victims, now living in Syria and Europe, are expected to testify.
This is one of several similar cases related to crimes in the Syrian civil war that have been tried in countries such as Germany, France, and Sweden. According to activists, at the time of his prosecution, al-Halabi was considered the highest-ranking Syrian official accused of abuses present in Europe.
