German court issues guilty verdict in first Syria torture trial
A German court sentenced a former member of President Bashar al-Assad’s security services to 4-1/2 years in prison on Wednesday for facilitating the torture of civilians, the first such verdict for crimes against humanity in the 10-year-old Syrian civil war. The higher regional court in the western city of Koblenz said Eyad A. had arrested at least 30 anti-government protesters at the start of the conflict in 2011 and sent them to an intelligence facility where he knew detainees were tortured. The verdict gives hope to the 800,000 Syrians in Germany who say they were tortured in government facilities after attempts to establish an international tribunal for Syria failed. “This is an important step forward in the process of securing accountability for the Syrian government’s systematic use of torture against civilians,” said Steve Kostas, a lawyer with the Open Society Foundation’s Justice Initiative, which is representing Syrian plaintiffs. The Assad government denies it tortures prisoners. Eyad A.’s lawyers had asked for an acquittal, saying he had carried out the arrests in and around Damascus under duress by his superiors. He had asked the court to consider him a witness in broader legal efforts against the Syrian government. The same court will continue hearings in the case of a second suspect identified as Anwar R., a former intelligence officer charged with 58 murders in a Damascus prison where prosecutors say at least 4,000 opposition activists were tortured in 2011 and 2012. Syrian human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni said the unprecedented verdict would speed up efforts to bring charges against former members of the Syrian government suspected of war crimes who have fled to Europe.
Pakistani Rupee appreciated by 13 paisas (+0.08pc) against the US Dollar on Wednesday, making it the third straight day of gains against the greenback during the ongoing week.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the US dollar opened at Rs158.89 and closed at Rs158.76 on Wednesday. The PKR traded within a very narrow range of 15 paisa per USD showing an intraday high bid of 158.83 and an intraday low offer of 158.73.
The rupee gained Re0.34 against the greenback during the last three days.
Currency dealers said that rupee gained against the international currency owing to improved inflows of workers’ remittances and export payments. They said that due to the recent fall in coronavirus cases, the market remained optimistic and dollar demand for import payment is gradually rising. They expressed optimism that the inflows of export receipts and workers’ remittances would help the local unit gain further appreciation in coming days.
Meanwhile, foreign exchange reserves of the country stand at $20.058 billion by week ended February 12, 2021, SBP said. The official foreign exchange reserves of the central bank stood at $12.889 billion while reserves held by commercial banks clocked in at $7.168 billion by the week ended February 12, 2021.