German court finds main suspect in first Syria torture trial guilty

FILE PHOTO: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/Illustration/File Photo

BERLIN — A German court sentenced a former intelligence officer in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s security services to life in prison after finding him guilty on Thursday, broadcaster NTV reported.

Prosecutors accused Anwar R. of 58 murders in a Damascus prison where prosecutors say at least 4,000 opposition activists were tortured in 2011 and 2012.

It was the second guilty verdict by the higher regional court in the western city of Koblenz for crimes against humanity in the Syrian civil war.