The Austrian Public Prosecutor's Office for Economics and Corruption prepared an indictment for war crimes in Syria, against a former regime intelligence officer who managed to escape from France to Austria with the help of the Israeli Mossad and obtained political asylum.
The indictment against Brigadier General Khaled Al-Halabi consists of 80 pages.
The Committee for Justice and International Accountability (CIJA) and other international human rights organizations accuse Al-Halabi of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes during the period he headed a security institution in Syria.
According to the Israel Defense website, a large number of people are expected to testify during the trial, which will begin soon, as the list of witnesses includes the former head of Austrian counterintelligence, Bernhard Bircher, and the current head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Combating Terrorism, Peter Gridling, in addition to Austrian civilians and intelligence experts.
It is noteworthy that many international intelligence agencies, such as the Mossad and the French Intelligence, participated in this case from the beginning, according to an extensive report published in the New Yorker newspaper last year.
Al-Halabi hails from the southern city of Suweida, and held the position of head of the State Security Agency in the city of Raqqa from 2009 until his escape from northeastern Raqqa city in March of 2013, according to his claim.
Al-Halabi went to Turkey, left after two months to Jordan, then managed to travel by plane to France in February of 2014, and applied for asylum there, but he did not obtain it, until he was smuggled to Austria and obtained asylum there in December of 2015.
Al-Halabi is considered directly responsible for the brutal repression of the demonstrations, and it is possible that he issued orders to open fire and launch brutal attacks on the demonstrators, in addition to the violations and torture of detainees held at the branch.
The dissident general had been in contact with French intelligence in Amman since 2013, and from Jordan, he was secretly transferred to France, where he applied for asylum, but his presence in France seemed to be an embarrassment to the government, and his petition was rejected.
According to a report published by the Austrian Kurier" website, the Mossad intervened and negotiated the transfer of Al-Halabi to Austria, as a political refugee, which was done, and he entered Austria in the year 2015, in an operation dubbed "White Milk".
What draws attention, according to the Kurier, is the extent of interest shown by the Mossad to transfer Al-Halabi from France, which had opened an investigation into his security record and crimes.
This made the Mossad rush to secretly transfer him from France to Austria, put him in a luxurious house, pay his full living costs, and press with all his might to accept his asylum in Austria, under the pretext that his life is in danger after being threatened by Syrians in France.
A non-governmental human rights organization has previously accused the Austrian government of providing protection to a former "senior Syrian officer", who is suspected of committing abuses and is being prosecuted in cases filed by those demanding justice.
The International Commission for Justice and Responsibility, which specializes in searching for war criminals in Syria to prosecute them, said that Al-Halabi is "accused of torture, sexual violence and crimes against humanity," noting that it had informed the government of the information related to him.
By Moatasem Al-Kilani
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