LONDON: Syrian security forces have arrested an Assad-era police officer who was convicted in an Austrian court for torturing opponents of the former president.
Musab Abu Rukba was detained in southern Syria “as part of ongoing operations against people implicated in terrorism cases,” the state news agency SANA reported on Saturday.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison by a Vienna court in July but returned to Syria earlier this month while he appealed the sentence, Reuters reported on Friday.
He arrived in his hometown of Nawa in Daraa province, where his family held a reception to celebrate his return.
A Syrian security authority said legal measures would be taken against Abu Rukba but gave no further details on the circumstances of his arrest.
He served as a lieutenant colonel in the political security branch in Raqqa during the regime of Bashar Assad.
He was convicted along with another former security officer Khaled Al-Halabi over abuses against detainees between 2011 and 2013.
Abu Rukba was found guilty of bodily harm, aggravated coercion and sexual assault against detainees.
A spokesperson for the Austrian court that convicted him told Reuters on Friday that ahead of the trial, he was found not to pose a flight risk because he had been living in Austria since 2014 and was seeking asylum there.
He was not remanded in custody during the trial and his departure from Austria did not amount to a breach of Austrian law, the spokesperson said.
The arrest comes days after Assad himself was sentenced to death in absentia for murder, torture and crimes against humanity committed before and during the country’s civil war.
His brother Maher and cousin Atef Najib were also among a number of officials sentenced to death in the first court rulings against Assad and his inner circle since he was driven from power in December 2024.
The current President Ahmad Al-Sharaa led the forces that overthrew the Assad regime.
His government has vowed to pursue former Assad officials responsible for the widespread abuses committed under his regime.
*With Reuters