Alaa M accused of torturing detainees at military hospitals during Syrian civil war under former ruler Bashar al-Assad
A Syrian doctor has been sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity in his home country – including murder and torture – by a German court.
The 40-year-old man, whose identity was only disclosed as Alaa M, worked as a junior doctor in an army hospital and a military intelligence prison in Homs and Damascus in Syria, in 2011 and 2012, in the early phase of the civil war.
He abused prisoners accused of being members of the opposition and who were considered enemies of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad who had participated in the uprisings against the regime during the Arab spring. He was convicted by the court in Frankfurt am Main of two deaths and eight cases of severe torture.
You’re probably not the right person to ask, but what’s the difference between prison and confinement?
It’s a technicality regarding German law. You’re always eligible to parole and the maximum life setence is 15 years. For cases such as this there’s confinement which technically the same as a prison but has a different status and the procedures to come to this verdict are different. This excludes insane criminals going to a psych ward which is a different thing. Basically the verdict says this person is so dangerous and was in full control of his actions and should never be released.
The only other case which wasn’t a violent criminal I can think of was a con man some years ago which even schemed through his lawyer when he was behind bars.