Syrians held in Germany for suspected Crimes Against Humanity

Syrians held in Germany for suspected Crimes Against Humanity

Germany says it has arrested 2 former Syrian intelligence officers speculated to have been involved in torturing critics of President Bashar al-Assad.

Both men appear to possess wanted asylum in Germany after leaving Syrian Arab Republic some years before the migrant inflow in 2015.

One them, Anwar R, is suspected of committing crimes against humanity.

He was allegedly in charge of a General Intelligence Directorate (GID) prison where 2,000 people were tortured between April 2011 and September 2012.

The other man, Eyad A, is suspected of aiding and abetting a criminal offense against humanity at the same jail.

A third man - also believed to have been a GID employee - was arrested in France on Tuesday as part of a joint investigation, according to Germany.

The GID is Syria's most powerful civilian intelligence agency and it has been accused of playing a key role in the violent suppression of the peaceful protests against Mr Assad's rule that erupted in March 2011.