Germany's top court said Tuesday that it has rejected the appeal of a former member of Syria's secret police who was convicted last year of facilitating the torture of prisoners in his home country.
In a landmark ruling, a court in the western German city of Koblenz had convicted Eyad Al-Gharib of accessory to crimes against humanity and sentenced him to 4 1/2 years in prison. The verdict, which was the first time that a court outside Syria ruled in a case alleging Syrian government officials committed crimes against humanity, was welcomed by human rights activists and victims of President Bashar Assad’s repression.
