US court indicts Syrian 'executioner'
A Los Angeles federal court has found former senior Syrian official, prison chief and governor Samir Othman Al-Sheikh guilty of torture and immigration fraud.
Samir Osman Al-Sheikh served the Bashar al-Assad regime as the head of Adra prison in Damascus from 2005 to 2008. According to the US Department of Justice, he gave orders to torture prisoners and personally participated in torture.
Prisoners were sent to a "punishment zone" and beaten. Many suffered spinal fractures as a result of actions such as hanging their arms from the ceiling and bending their bodies using special devices.
The main purpose of this torture was to deter members of the Syrian opposition from acting against the government.
Al-Sheikh falsely claimed that he had not been involved in the crackdown on opposition figures in Syria when he applied for a US visa in 2020 and citizenship in 2023. However, he was arrested at Los Angeles Airport in July of this year on suspicion of fraud.
During the investigation, it was revealed that he was trying to flee to Lebanon. It was also revealed that he worked for the Syrian state security service, which fights against political opponents.
Al-Sheikh could face up to 20 years in prison for the torture charges and up to 10 years for the immigration fraud charges.
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