© 2026 ICCT
Last update: 6 October 2025Case No:5-2 StE 5/17-4 - 1st Inst. Verdict – Final
Abdalfatah H. A., a Syrian national, was one of the co-founders of a Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN) affiliated Katiba. As part of the group, which operated mostly in Raqqa and participated in various battles, he was accused of having been involved in the execution of thirty-six Syrian government employees, carried out by Abdul Jawad A.K. following a death sentence handed down by a Sharia judge of JaN. In October 2015, he entered Germany as an asylum seeker with his family. On 1 March 2017, he was arrested in Germany and on 13 January 2020 convicted of twenty two counts of membership in an foreign terrorist organisation, twenty-one counts of deprivation of liberty, and nineteen counts of deprivation of liberty resulting in death. He was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months imprisonment. On 10 August 2021, the Federal Court of Justice confirmed the verdict and sentence.
37 counts of war crime of murder of a person protected under IHL; 1 count of war crimes of arbitrary detention
1 count of membership in a terrorist organisation
1 count of violating arms control laws; 36 counts of murder
1st Instance:
22 counts of membership in a foreign terrorist organisation
1 count of violating arms control laws; 19 counts of deprivation of liberty resulting in death; 21 counts of deprivation of liberty
Nationality:
Gender:
Case status: 1st Inst. Verdict – Final
Verdict status: Partial Acquittal
Affiliated group: Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN)
Travelled to conflict zone: Resident in conflict zone
Special procedure: N/A
Ground of jurisdiction: Universal Jurisdiction
Indictment – Press Release
1st Instance Verdict – Full Judgment
© 2026 ICCT
Last update: 6 October 2025