Syrian on trial for torture as Assad-regime soldier says case is "fabricated"
Today, the trial starts against Rafik A., a 57-year-old Syrian man accused of crimes against humanity when he was a soldier for the Assad regime in 2013 and 2014. He is charged with 25 crimes, including torture, sexual violence, and rape. In court on Wednesday, A. said that the case against him is “fabricated” and full of “all kinds of false accusations,” ANP reported.
A. was granted an asylum permit in the Netherlands in 2021. He moved to Drutnen with his family in 2022, where he was arrested in December 2023.
According to the Public Prosecution Service (OM), A. was a chief interrogator for the National Defense Force militia, which was affiliated with the Assad regime, in 2013 and 2024. In that role, he allegedly used extreme violence to interrogate prisoners, beating, kicking, hanging, humiliating, and shocking them, among other things. One woman reported that A. raped and sexually assaulted her.
Multiple witnesses have stated that A. was involved in suppressing demonstrations against the Assad government in 2021. One witness said that A. held a high position in the NDF as the second-in-command, directly under the leader. Several others testified that A. interrogated them multiple times. Witnesses reported seeing A. wearing an NDF uniform and carrying a Kalashnikov.
In court in The Hague on Wednesday, A. denied the allegations against him. He says he did not work for the NDF but opposed the Assad regime. “Even if I were to work 24 hours a day, I still wouldn’t be able to do all the things I am accused of,” A. said in court through an interpreter. “The entire file is fabricated. It contains all kinds of false accusations.”
The trial against A. is set to take weeks. Vitims will have their chance to speak in court next week. NOS spoke to one victim, who was arrested at a protest against the Assad regime in 2014 and taken to a remote farm, where he was held with around 100 other prisoners.
“During the ride to the interrogation location in a village outside Salamiyah, I was already mistreated. Weapons were pointed at me, also at my head. I didn’t even know who had taken me at the time,” he told NOS.
The man vividly remembers being interrogated. The first interrogation lasted about six hours, he said. “With every question came a blow. Sometimes with the hand, sometimes with a belt. My body was beaten to a pulp and my morale broken.” According to him, Rafik A. played a leading role in the interrogations. “He gave the instructions: hit him, make him say more.”
After over two months on the farm, living in terrible conditions with little to eat, the man was transferred to a prison in the city of Hama. He spent several more months in custody there before he was eventually released. He looks forward to facing A. in court. “I am no longer afraid. I want him to be tried, but not out of revenge.”
