Stockholm: A court in Stockholm on Thursday will go on trial in Europe against one of Syria’s top military officials on charges of war crimes during the Syrian civil war.
Brigadier General Mohamed Hamo, 65, who lives in Sweden, is accused of “aiding and abetting” war crimes. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The Stockholm District Court is expected to announce its decision at 11:00 am (0900 GMT).
The war between President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and armed opposition groups such as the Islamic State began in 2011 after the government cracked down on peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations.
More than half a million people have been killed, millions have been left homeless, and Syria’s economy and infrastructure have been destroyed.
According to the indictment, Hamo contributed with “advice and action” to the Syrian army’s war, which “consisted of a series of attacks carried out in violation of the principles of discrimination, prudence and equality”.
Prosecutor Carolina Wieslander told the court when the case opened in April.
Wieslander said the Syrian army has inflicted disproportionate damage on “widespread air and ground attacks” given the overall clear and immediate military advantage it is expected to achieve.
As a brigadier general and head of the Ordnance Department, Hamo is said to have helped coordinate the shipment of weapons and ammunition.
Hamon’s lawyer, Marie Kilman, told the court that her client denied criminal responsibility and did not want to contribute to an “unfair fight” by others.
Kilman said the officer cannot be held responsible for his actions “because he was acting in a military context and had to follow orders.”
Aida Samani, senior legal counsel for the civil rights group monitoring the trial, told AFP that “strong evidence” had been presented in court.
“Now we will see what the court does with this information and evidence,” said Samani.
“What is important about this matter is that it is the first case of the Syrian army in charge of the war. That is, how this war is fought,” he said.
However, no European court has previously addressed this problem and its impact on the lives of citizens and infrastructure.
Hamo is the highest-ranking military official in Europe to be tried in person, although other countries have tried to prosecute higher-ranking members.
In March, Swiss prosecutors charged President Bashar al-Assad’s uncle Rifaat al-Assad with war crimes and crimes against humanity.
However, Rifaat al-Assad, who has just returned to Syria after 37 years in exile, is likely to appear at a yet-to-be-determined trial.
Swiss law allows third parties to be sued under certain circumstances.
In November, France issued an international arrest warrant for Bashar al-Assad, accusing him of crimes against humanity in 2013 and war crimes in the 2013 chemical attack.
Three other international warrants were also issued for the arrest of Bashar al-Assad’s brother Maheri, the de facto head of the army’s elite Fourth Division, and two generals.
In May, a Paris court sentenced three Syrian security officials to life in prison for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The accused – Ali Mamlouk, former head of the National Security Bureau; Jamil Hasan, former director of Air Force Intelligence; Abdel Salam Mahmoud, the former head of the investigation, was not present, but there was an international warrant for his arrest.
In January 2022, a German court sentenced former Colonel Anwar Raslan to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity. It was the first international trial on state-sponsored torture in Syria and was hailed as a victory for justice by the victims.
