STOCKHOLM — The trial of a former Syrian army general over his alleged role in war crimes committed in 2012 in his home country started at a Stockholm court Monday, a first according to a human rights organization.
Syria has been ravaged by civil war for over 13 years.
Brig. Gen Mohammed Hamo, who is currently residing in Sweden, is charged with aiding and abetting crimes violating international law, described by the prosecution as “a serious crime” when he was charged in February.
The Associated Press got a hold of Hamo's accusation sheet in which the prosecutor claims the 65-year-old — who was a brigadier general in the Syrian army between January 2012 and July 2012 — has participated in the warfare that “systematically included attacks carried out in violation of the principle of distinction, caution and proportionality,” adding that the attacks were “indiscriminate.”
The prosecutor also said Hamo worked in the Syrian army's 11th division and he was vital in making “strategic decisions and (implementing) military operations.”
“This trial is important because it's the first time that anyone from the Syrian government or the Syrian army is actually put on trial for the attacks that took place,” said Aida Samani of the Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders, a politically and religiously independent human rights organization.
The former general risks up to 18 years in jail and even life imprisonment, Samani…
