The main defendant in the trial is Anwar Raslan,a former member of President Bashar al-Assad’s secret police,who is accused of overseeing the abuse of detainees at the notorious al-Khatib jail near Damascus,also known as Branch 251.
German prosecutors accuse Raslan of supervising the “systematic and brutal torture” of more than 4000 prisoners between April 2011 and September 2012,resulting in the deaths of at least 58 people.
A second suspect,Eyad al-Gharib,is accused of being part of a unit that arrested people following a demonstration in the city of Douma and took them to Branch 251,where they were tortured. The defendants’ lawyers couldn’t be reached for comment.
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Speaking by phone after his testimony on Wednesday,Berlin time,for the court in Koblenz,Mukdad said that being able to recount what had happened to him nine years ago was"a strange feeling,but also a kind of relief".
"I'm relieved to let the feelings and memories out in a productive way,” he said.
Mukdad,who is among several survivors being supported by the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights,said he recounted to the court how he was detained off the street and mistreated on the way to the jail.