A former Syrian intelligence officer who fled to the UK has been charged with murder and torture as crimes against humanity, in the first prosecution of its kind in England and Wales.
The 58-year-old, who has not been named for legal reasons, is alleged to have played a leading role in the violent crackdown on protesters in Syria at the start of the uprising against former leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime in 2011.
The man has been charged with three counts of murder as a crime against humanity, three counts of torture and one crime of conduct accessory to murder as a crime against humanity. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, where his lawyers are expected to apply for reporting restrictions to protect his identity.
The accused was a member of Syrian air force intelligence when he was allegedly tasked with quelling demonstrations in the suburbs of Damascus. The charges relate to the April 2011 protests, which were violently repressed, sparking a civil war that ultimately led to the overthrow of the Assad regime in December 2024.
The man was first arrested in Buckinghamshire in 2021. The Metropolitan Police said the charges showed there was no safe haven for suspected war criminals in the UK.
Germany has prosecuted several men for war crimes during the Syrian conflict, but this is the first time the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has brought charges of murder and torture as crimes against humanity under the International Criminal Court Act 2001.
Following his arrest in December 2021 on suspicion of war crimes, the man’s home in Buckinghamshire was searched. At that time he was released on bail pending further investigations.
On Monday, Bethan David, head of the CPS counter-terrorism division, said: “We have determined that a 58-year-old man should be prosecuted on charges of murder as a crime against humanity and torture.
“Our prosecutors have concluded that there is sufficient evidence to bring seven offenses under the International Criminal Court Act 2001 and the Criminal Justice Act 1988.
“We have worked closely with the Metropolitan Police Service’s war crimes team as they carried out their investigation.”
Commander Helen Flanagan, the Met’s head of counter-terrorism, said: “This has been an incredibly complex and challenging investigation, involving investigations in many countries.
“This has required close cooperation with a number of international partners, as well as our CPS colleagues.
“The charges are extremely serious and demonstrate that we fully support the UK’s ‘no safe haven’ policy in relation to alleged war criminals.
“When allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity that fall within our jurisdiction are brought to our attention, then, as we have demonstrated here, we will not hesitate to investigate them rigorously and robustly.”
