An Austrian court on Monday convicted two officials under Syrian former dictator Bashar Assad for torturing opponents of his regime.
The crimes, dating back more than a decade, were being prosecuted on the basis of universal jurisdiction, by which courts can investigate and prosecute certain particular serious crimes — like genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity — regardless of where they were perpetrated or of the nationalities of the perpetrators or victims.
It's the latest of several cases in European countries against individuals accused of wrongdoing amid Syria's protracted civil war that can trace its roots back to the so-called Arab Spring uprisings that began in 2010.
Assad tried in absentia as Syria charges ex-regime membersTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Who was on trial and what were their sentences?
