Life Sentence for Syrian Doctor Alaa Mousa in Germany for Crimes Against Humanity
June 16, 2025, 12:06 pm

Life Sentence for Syrian Doctor Alaa Mousa in Germany for Crimes Against Humanity

السجن المؤبد على الطبيب السوري علاء موسى بتهمة ارتكاب جرائم ضد الإنسانية في ألمانيا

The High Court in Frankfurt has sentenced Syrian doctor Alaa Mousa to life imprisonment after he was convicted of crimes against humanity, including torture and murder committed within the Assad regime’s hospitals in Homs and Damascus during 2011 and 2012.

The Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt began his trial in January 2022, holding 186 sessions during which around 50 witnesses testified, including victims and legal experts. Mousa, 40 years old, faced charges of torturing detainees who opposed the Syrian regime while working in a military prison and hospitals in Homs and Damascus during those years.

It is expected that the court will issue a life sentence today, marking the first of its kind in cases involving Syrians accused of systematic violations supported by the state since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024. Over recent years, Germany has prosecuted several Syrian officials in similar cases.

Mousa arrived in Germany in 2015, where he worked as a healthcare provider in a system severely suffering from a shortage of medical staff. He was described as one of approximately 10,000 Syrian doctors who helped alleviate this shortage. He has been detained since June 2020, after German authorities arrested him, and he now faces over 12 charges related to torture and the killing of prisoners.

Among the accusations against him are performing surgeries to repair bone fractures without adequate anesthesia and attempting to deprive prisoners of their reproductive rights in separate cases. Mousa worked at the Mazzeh 601 military hospital in Damascus, a facility known for its role in implementing the torture apparatus of the Syrian regime. According to Human Rights Watch, photos known as "Caesar Photos," documenting widespread civilian abuses under Assad’s regime, have been linked to the hospital and its premises.

Regarding the expected ruling, lawyer Anwar Al-Bunni, head of the Syrian Center for Legal Studies and Research, stated that he anticipates the court will side with the prosecutor’s request for a life sentence with no possibility of parole. He added, “He is a doctor, not security personnel. His role was to protect lives, not to kill and torture. He did so voluntarily due to his blind support for the Assad regime.”

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