Former jail director accused of torture in the USA

A former Syrian authorities official has been charged with torture in the USA, authorities introduced Thursday.

Samir Ousman Alsheikh, who oversaw Damascus Central Jail from 2005 to 2008, was indicted by a federal grand jury on a number of counts of torture and conspiracy to commit torture.

U.S. authorities stated the allegations towards Alsheikh have been “chilling.”

He was arrested earlier this yr at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport (LAX) on two expenses of immigration fraud and had bought a one-way ticket from LAX to Beirut, Lebanon.

In line with a press release from the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Central District of California, Alsheikh hid his employment on the jail and denied persecuting anybody in his U.S. visa and citizenship functions.

U.S. officers say Alsheikh personally inflicted “extreme bodily and psychological ache and struggling on political and different prisoners” as a part of his function underneath deposed President Bashar al-Assad.

He allegedly ordered inmates to be despatched to the jail’s “punishment wing,” the place they’d be overwhelmed whereas suspended from the ceiling and subjected to a tool that brought on “excruciating ache,” generally resulting in damaged bones. of the backbone.

“Practically 20 years in the past, the defendant was accused of torturing prisoners in Syria, and at this time we’re one step nearer to holding him accountable for these heinous crimes,” stated Particular Agent Eddy Wang answerable for the HSI area workplace in Los Angeles. stated in a press release.

If convicted, Alsheikh faces as much as 20 years in jail for conspiracy to commit torture; as much as 20 years for every of three torture expenses; and as much as 10 years for every of two immigration fraud expenses.

In a press release to The Related Press, Alsheikh’s lawyer stated he “vehemently denies these false, politically motivated accusations.”

The 72-year-old moved to the USA in 2020 and lived in Lexington, South Carolina, in keeping with court docket paperwork.

This comes after the discharge of hundreds of prisoners by insurgent forces throughout Syria following the autumn of the Assad regime.

Movies confirmed dozens of inmates being launched, whereas different photographs additionally confirmed individuals working in direction of prisons within the hope of discovering their lacking family members.

Human rights teams and United Nations officers have beforehand accused the previous Syrian authorities of widespread jail violations.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated nearly 60,000 individuals had been tortured and killed in prisons run by Assad.

On Thursday, Syrian insurgent forces introduced plans to shut notoriously harsh prisons and seek out these concerned in killing or torturing inmates.