Former Syrian official convicted of torture under Assad faces sentencing in the US
A former Syrian military official, Samir Ousman Alsheikh, faces a possible decades-long prison sentence in the United States for allegedly torturing prisoners while in charge of Syria’s Adra Prison from 2005 to 2008. The U.S. Department of Justice alleges that Alsheikh and others sent prisoners to a wing of Adra where they endured beatings, suspension from pipes, and use of a device that folded their bodies in half.
One victim testified that Alsheikh stomped on the device with his foot. Alsheikh, 74 years old with medical and cognitive conditions, is scheduled to be sentenced by a federal judge in Los Angeles. His lawyers have requested a five-year sentence, claiming he would be willing to be deported to Syria. Prosecutors seek a minimum of 80 years, arguing that the sentence must account for his involvement in torture despite knowing it was wrong.
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