Syrian doctor on trial in Germany over torture in military hospitals

Syrian doctor, 36, known as M. by German media sits with his head covered, accompanied by one of his lawyers Ulrich Endres, as he goes on trial in Frankfurt, Germany, January 19, 2022. He is accused of crimes against humanity, with prosecutors saying he physically and mentally tortured political prisoners opposed to President Assad at an army hospital in Homs in 2011 and 2012 before he arrived in Germany in 2015 where he continued to practice medicine until his arrest in June 2020. Boris Roessler/Pool via REUTERS

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -A Syrian doctor suspected of crimes against humanity, including torturing prisoners at military hospitals in Syria, went on trial in Germany on Wednesday in the second such case over alleged state-backed torture in Syria's conflict.

After a landmark German court ruling last week https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/german-court-rule-landmark-syria-torture-trial-2022-01-13 sentencing a Syrian former intelligence officer to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity, the trial of the 36-year-old doctor started at the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main.