Germany detains Syrian men over suspected mass
killings
(Vatican Radio) German authorities have detained two
Syrians, one of whom allegedly was involved in the slaying of dozens of
civilians in Syria. The arrests of the suspected members of the extremist Nusra
Front comes amid pressure on Germany's government to bring war crimes suspects
to justice.
Germany's federal prosecutor's office says a Syrian man,
identified as 35-year-old Abdalfatah H.A., is suspected of war crimes over the
killing of 36 Syrian government employees by his unit in March 2013.
Prosecutors say he allegedly carried out "so-called Shariah death
sentences" when he was part of the extremist Nusra Front group.
German media report that the man came to Germany as an
asylum-seeker, but the prosecutors office declined to confirm that.
The other suspect, identified as 26-year-old Abdulrahman
A.A., belonged to the same combat unit as Abdalfatah H.A.. Investigators say
that both men participated in an armed battle against Syrian government troops,
including taking over a big arms depot near the central Syrian town of Mahin in
November 2013.
The men, whose surnames weren't published due to German
privacy rules, were detained Wednesday and Thursday in the western cities of
Duesseldorf and Giessen where their apartments were raided.
BOMB PLOT
Prosecutors said the men belong to a Nusra Front unit which
also included Abd Arahman A. K., a Syrian in his early 30s who was detained in
Germany in June last year for allegedly being part of a plot to carry out a
bomb attack in Duesseldorf.
Human rights groups have pressed the German and other
governments to bring people suspected of war crimes and crimes against humanity
in especially Syria to trial. They view it as part of an effort to resolve the
long-running conflict that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and
displaced millions.
The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, or
ECCHR, says it has helped submit the first criminal complaint in Germany
against six high-level Syrian military intelligence officials. The group says
it hopes that prosecutors will take up the case under the principle of
universal jurisdiction.
Separately German prosecutors say they have charged a
19-year-old Lebanese man with membership in the Islamic State group on
allegations he trained with the extremist group in Syria in 2015 and fought in
Iraq.
The suspect, identified only as Tarik A., returned to
Germany in January 2016 and was arrested in Duesseldorf on Wednesday.
CONCERNS REMAIN
Munich prosecutors also announced the detention of a
33-year-old Bosnian man who allegedly supported terrorist group Junud al-Sham
by delivering them vehicles.
The man, whose name wasn't released, was detained Tuesday in
the Nuremberg area.
Despite concerns over extremism, German Chancellor Angela
Merkel has defended her open-door policy towards migrants fleeing war and
poverty.
Yet she says her government will win the fight against
terrorism but with compassion towards innocent people seeking shelter in the
country.
More than a million migrants have arrived in Germany,
Europe's largest economy, since the start of 2015.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét