Case: Mustafa A. -

Mustafa A., a 36-year old Syrian man, has been sentenced to a prison term of 12 years, for complicity in crimes against humanity of serious deprivation of liberty and torture, for the participation in a criminal organisation (Liwa al-Quds) whose aim is to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity, and lastly, for complicity in torture. Mustafa A. had reportedly been living in the Netherlands since 2020 and was arrested in May 2022. The court determined that he was a leader within Liwa al-Quds, a militia that was a loyal ally of the Syrian government at the time. Mustafa A. forcibly took a Palestinian man from his home. The man was then detained and tortured for 20 days by the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Service. On first instance Mustafa A. was acquitted of torture and deprivation of liberty of a second victim, since the court found that it had not been sufficiently established that Mustafa A. was involved in the acts relating to the second victim. The Court of Appeal largely confirmed the Court of First Instance’s findings and sentenced Mustafa A. to 13 years imprisonment and ordered him to pay 40.000 EUR compensation to the victim. The Court of Appeal further noted that Mustafa A.’s asylum status in the Netherlands has been revoked in May 2023 although he will not be extradited to Syria given the consequences he could face there as a perceived supporter of the previous Assad government.