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Syrian Refugee in Austrian Courts, Accused of Brutal Murder of 20 Syrian Arab Army Soldiers
Screenshot from Channel 4 documentary, following the NATO and Gulf state funded, Farouq Brigade in Homs 2012
21st Century Wire says…
According to various media reports, a Syrian asylum seeker has appeard in an Austrian court, charged with murdering twenty, unarmed and injured, Syrian Arab Army prisoners, following a battle in Homs, in 2013/14. The 27-year-old man faces charges of “murder in the context of terrorism”
Defence lawyers are trying to reduce his sentence by claiming the defendant was “severely traumatised at the time“, according to a BBC report today. The summary execution of prisoners of war, violates the Geneva Convention.
Previous reports , had advised that the 27-year-old man was arrested in western Austria in June 2016, while in a refugee centre, having been reported by fellow refugees, shocked by his revelations about the mass killings. Prosecutors did also state that an initial confession, made by the asylum seeker, was later retracted.
The latest BBC report continues:
“Austrian media said the suspect told others at a refugee shelter that he had shot dead government soldiers when he was fighting with an Islamist rebel group called the Farouq Brigade. According to reports, the suspect was placed under investigation when officials were alerted to his account of events in Syria last year. Austria is unable to extradite the man to face charges in Syria because of the ongoing civil war. The decision to try him in the country for his alleged crimes committed elsewhere is thought to be a first in Austria.
Officials have said the actions that he has allegedly described qualified as terrorism and could be prosecuted under international counter-terrorism agreements.”
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Source: http://21stcenturywire.com/2017/02/22/syrian-refugee-in-austrian-courts-accused-of-brutal-murder-of-20-syrian-arab-army-soldiers/
