Germany arrests five suspected of war crimes in Syria

Police in Germany arrested four stateless Syrian Palestinians and one Syrian national suspected of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in Syria.

Police in Germany arrested four stateless Syrian Palestinians and one Syrian national suspected of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes in Syria some 10 years ago, prosecutors said.

The men, identified in line with German privacy laws only as Jihad A., Mahmoud A., Sameer S. and Wael S. are suspected to have been affiliated with the Free Palestine Movement armed militia in Syria. Mazhar J. is suspected to have been a Syrian Intelligence Officer, said prosecutors in a statement on Wednesday.

“The individuals ... are strongly suspected of killing and attempting to kill civilians (which) qualified as crimes against humanity and war crimes,” the statement said.

Jihad A., Mazhar J. and Sameer S. were arrested in Berlin, Mahmoud A. in Frankenthal in the south-western state of Rhineland-Palatinate and Wael S. in the north-eastern state of Mecklenburg Vorpommern, said prosecutors.

The individuals are suspected of participating in a violent crackdown on a peaceful anti-government protest in Al Yarmouk in July 2012, in which civilian protesters were targeted and shot at. Six individuals died and others were seriously injured, said prosecutors.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/germany-arrests-suspected-war-crimes-syria-rcna160115

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