The prosecution in Austria has filed an unprecedented indictment against one of the highest-ranking officials in Bashar al-Assad’s regime - Brigadier General Khaled al-Halabi, 62, on charges of war crimes and severe torture carried out during the Syrian civil war.
Al-Halabi, who previously served as a senior figure in Syrian intelligence, was arrested last December after a manhunt that lasted more than 12 years, and is considered the highest-ranking officer from Assad’s forces to be tried so far in Europe.
According to the indictment filed in a court in Vienna, al-Halabi is accused of torture, unlawful detention, and severe violence against political detainees in the city of Raqqa between 2011 and 2013, a period during which he ran the local intelligence station.
One turning point in the case is the Austrian prosecution’s claim that al-Halabi acted as a double agent for the Israeli Mossad while serving in Syrian intelligence.
According to findings, after fleeing Syria in 2013 he initially hid in Paris, from where he was smuggled to Austria. The move was reportedly with the help of Mossad operatives and assistance from elements within the Austrian intelligence services, which provided him with political asylum and an apartment in Vienna, allegedly funded by Israel.
The indictment states that his transfer to Europe occurred at the initiative of senior officials in Austrian intelligence who sought to cooperate with the Mossad. The Mossad and Israeli authorities did not respond to reports of their alleged involvement in the case. Austria's interior and justice ministries declined to give an official response.