No. 07/2022
Today, the 5th Senate (State Security Senate [Staatsschutzsenat]) of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt/Main began with the main hearing at the trial against the 36-year-old Syrian citizen Alaa M.
The Senate sits with five judges. In addition to the defendant and his three defence lawyers, two representatives of the Attorney General at the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) attended the trial. First, the presiding judge established the presence of the parties to the proceedings as well as the identity of the defendant. The representatives of the Attorny General then read out the indictment from the bill of indictment of 9 July 2021.
In the bill of indictment, which comprises a total of 18 cases, the defendant is accused of having tortured prisoners as an assistant doctor in 2011 and 2012 and of causing them severe physical and mental harm. The offences are alleged to have been committed in Syrian military hospitals in Homs and Damascus as well as in a military intelligence prison. The victims are said to be members of the opposition against the Assad
regime. In addition, the defendant is alleged to have intentionally killed a prisoner by means of an injection in one case. This is said to have been done to demonstrate his power and at the same time to suppress the rebellion of a part of the Syrian population.
After the indictment had been read out, the presiding judge stated that the bill of indictment had been admitted to the main hearing in its entirety by order of the Senate of 10 Nobember 2021 and by order of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) of 21 December 2021. The arrest warrant against the defendant was revised accordingly and the continuation of pre-trial detention was ordered.
The presiding judge then instructed the defendant that he was free to comment on the charges or to invoke his right to remain silent. The defendant stated through his defence lawyers that he did not want to comment on the charges until the next day of the main hearing. The defendant described his curriculum and his professional career. Then the Senate entered into the taking of evidence with the reading out of documents.
After that, the presiding judge closed the day’s proceedings. The main hearing will be continued on 25 January 2022 at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom 165, Building C.
The main hearing then will be continued on 27 January (Courtroom 165, Building C), 3 February, 8 February, 15 February, 17 February (in each case in Courtroom II, Building E), on 22 February, 24 February (in each case in Courtroom 165, Building C), on 1 March, 8 March, 10 March, 15 March, 17 March and on 24 March 2022 (in each case in Courtroom II, Building E).
OLG Frankfurt am Main, 5-3 StE 2/21 - 4 - 2/21
English version: dep. press spokeswoman Dr. Charlotte Rau