New suspect of Syria war crimes in Germany

Zaman Al-Wasl has obtained intersecting information about the arrival of a suspected perpetrator of violations against Syrians to Germany a few days ago as part of the "family unification visa" program.

The sources provided the investigation team to pursue war criminals against the Syrians with videos and photos of the arrival of the so-called Jihad Khalaf al-Fathi to Germany to join his wife and children who preceded him in 2016.

Al-Fathi was born in Mou Hassan city in the Deir Ezzor Governorate in 1968 and worked as a non-commissioned officer with the rank of First Assistant in the Military Judiciary Department in Damascus. He previously held several job jobs within this administration, the last of which was presiding over the office of the Terrorism Court, which was established by tAl-Assad regime after the start of the Syrian revolution.

The arrival of Al-Fathi to Germany sparked a wave of disappointment and anger among the opposition activists from Deir Ezzor Governorate in general and Mou Hassan city in particular.

Some of these activists confirmed to Zaman Al-Wasl that Al-Fthaihi carried out physical blackmail, threats and fraud operations against the families of the detainees from Deir Ezzor.

He took advantage of his work in the administration of the military judiciary and his relationship with the military judges, most notably Lieutenant Colonel Nizar Mujhem al-Dandal, whose name was mentioned in Zaman Al-Wasl reports, as well as his relations with officers of the various intelligence branches, most notably Branch (235) known as Palestine Branch and Branch 291.

The regime exempts the president of the "terrorism" court after exploiting the detainees' families by hundreds of millions.

A witness revealed to Zaman Al-Wasl, asking not to be named for security reasons, that "Jihad Al-Fathi" is currently residing in the city of Eschwege in the Hesse district of central Germany.

He used to extort the families of the detainees after their arrival at the Military Judiciary Department by contacting them or their relatives and informing them of the detainee’s presence with him or in one of the security branches, expressing his willingness to be a mediator to release him in exchange for large sums of money, but he was disavowing his promises, threatening the families of the detainees with arrest in case they demanded the sums they paid.

The witness continues: “This is directly reflected in the lifestyle of Al-Fathi and his obscene wealth after the revolution.”

The witness confirmed his readiness to testify before the competent German authorities in the event that an investigation was opened with the so-called "Jihad".

The investigation team obtained videos that show the state of wealth and extravagance of the so-called "Jihad Al-Fathi".

Another witness confirmed that "Al-Fathi lived in Al-Duwelaa area in the capital, Damascus, and collected a lot of money from extortion and fraud. He was also close to the terrorism court judges and its corrupt judges, and had a close relationship with the Shabiha of Al-Duwaila and  al-Kabbas checkpoint in the capital, Damascus."

The Syrian Network for Human Rights documented, in a report, the most prominent violations of the terrorism court in Syria.

The network said, "The Terrorism Court is a political and security court that aims to eliminate those calling for political change towards democracy and human rights."

The court tries civilians, soldiers, and juveniles alike, in contravention of the rules of specific jurisdiction. Judges for the court are appointed by the president of the republic, which is a flagrant violation of the simplest criteria for the separation of powers, and therefore the chief prosecutor in the court is only a transit corridor from the security services to the court judges.

The report concludes that the Syrian regime has made the court an additional security branch for its service, starting from the security services to the Public Prosecution of the terrorism  Court, which does not apply due process or prosecution and trial procedures, violating international human rights law in a way that facilitates the court to accuse anyone easily.