Ex-Syrian general faces war crimes charges
The highest-ranking Syrian military official to be tried in Europe was scheduled to appear in a Stockholm court yesterday for his alleged role in war crimes committed in 2012 during Syria’s civil war.
Former Syrian brigadier general Mohammed Hamo, 65, who lives in Sweden, stands accused of “aiding and abetting” war crimes during Syria’s civil war, which can carry a sentence of life in jail.
The war in Syria between Bashar al-Assad’s regime and armed opposition groups, including the Islamic State, erupted after the government repressed peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2011.
It has killed more than half a million people, displaced millions, and ravaged the country’s economy and infrastructure.
According to the charge sheet, Hamo contributed — through “advice and action” — to the Syrian army’s warfare, “which systematically involved indiscriminate attacks on several towns or places in the area in and around the towns of Hama and Homs”.
The charges concern the period of Jan 1 to July 20, 2012 and the trial is expected to last until late May.
Prosecutors say the Syrian army ’s “warfare has included widespread air and ground attacks by unknown perpetrators within the Syrian army”.
The prosecution argues that strikes were carried out without distinction — as required by international law — between civilian and military targets.
In his role as a brigadier general and head of an armament division, he allegedly helped with the coordination and supply of arms to units, enabling the carrying out of orders on an “operational level”.
Hamo’s lawyer, Mari Kilman, said her client denied committing a crime but said she did not wish to comment further ahead of the trial.
Several plaintiffs are due to testify at the trial, including a British photographer who was injured during one of the strikes.
“The attacks resulted in widespread civilian harm and an immense destruction of civilian properties,” Aida Samani, senior legal advisor at rights group Civil Rights Defenders, said.