For the first time, someone in the Netherlands is on trial for an execution in Syria. A video of this was put on the internet. As of today, the case will be heard by the Hague court.
The suspect is a 49-year-old Syrian asylum seeker, who is said to have committed war crimes in his native country. His arrest was a shock for the village of Kapelle in Zeeland, where the Syrian had lived for several years with his wife and seven children. He was known as a friendly man, who played at the local football club and also in the village to the church went.
But his past is quite grim, according to the Public Prosecution Service. Before his flight to the Netherlands, he is said to have been a commander of the Syrian terrorist movement Jabhat al-Nusra, a local branch of al-Qaida. He is suspected of war and terrorist crimes, including an execution.
That execution was in the summer of 2012 and has been put in a video on YouTube. The victim is a captured lieutenant colonel of the Syrian Air Force. Despite his surrender, the senior soldier was taken to the bank of the Euphrates and shot there.
“This is the fate of every traitor, every murderer, every criminal who kills innocent civilians,” can be heard in the video. “He bombed civilian houses.”
Tracking down war criminals
For several years now, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service has been trying to increase its efforts to investigate war crimes in Syria. Agreements have been made about this with other European countries. It should lead to higher penalties.
But finding concrete evidence is often difficult, because conducting research in Syria is impossible. That is why suspicion often remains with membership of a terrorist organization.
A Dutch judge recently sentenced two men to years in prison for kicking and posing next to a body. Those too were proven war crimes.
Active as Abu Khuder
Now, for the first time, there is a case involving an execution. Suspect Ahmad al K. would have played a leading role within the group that committed the murder in eastern Syria.
Shortly after the execution, he gave a interview to the British newspaper The Guardian. In it, he, himself wounded by a sniper’s bullet, told how he initially fought for the Free Syrian Army. Because he felt that these rebels were doing too little against President Assad’s regime, he switched to Jabhat al-Nusra. He found the structure and discipline that was lacking in the Free Syrian Army in the religious fighters.
Using the name Abu Khuder, he became commander of one of their battalions. Their expertise: homemade explosives and car bombs. In 2014 he fled to the Netherlands, allegedly to receive treatment for his terminally ill daughter. That is how he ended up in Kapelle with his family.
The Dutch police tracked down Abu Khuder after a tip from Germany. There was an investigation into other members of his battalion. The German police had witness statements against the suspect, which the Netherlands continued with.
Undercover agent deployed
One of the special features of the investigation is the deployment of an undercover agent. Ahmad al K. admitted to that officer that he can be heard in the execution video. Voice investigation revealed that it was indeed the suspect.
The Public Prosecution Service now also has a second video, on which he can be seen himself. The videos will be shown in court later in the trial.
Another special feature of the case is that the court has interviewed someone for the first time via WhatsApp. It concerns a witness in Syria, who otherwise would not have been able to speak.
‘Swap for brother’
According to justice, the investigation has led to a large amount of evidence against the refugee from Kapelle. The Public Prosecution Service suspects that Al K. negotiated a ransom with his victim. In the video, the soldier offers “15 million” (now converted about 10,000 euros), apparently for his release. “That’s not a drop of blood from the children killed in Deir ez-Zor or Homs or Al Houla,” replied Al K., referring to places where large numbers of civilians have been killed.
Al K. himself has a different story. He says he was just trying to avoid the execution. Abu Khuder says he negotiated for his brother, who was imprisoned by the Assad regime and would be tortured in prison. It would have been his intention to trade the lieutenant colonel for his brother. That did not work and that is why he was forced to participate in the death squad.
He said the interview in The Guardian was a boast to ensure that he would not be harassed by the jihadists in his region.
As of today, the lawsuit will be dealt with substantively by the court in The Hague, which is competent to deal with international crimes. The hearing is in an extra secured room in Rotterdam. A sentence is expected in early July.
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