DAMASCUS/FRANKFURT: A former Syrian security officer sentenced to prison in Austria for abusing detainees during Bashar Assad’s rule left the country while appealing against his sentence and returned to Syria earlier this month, according to four sources and messages reviewed by Reuters.
Lt. Col. Musab Abu Rukba was handed an eight-year prison sentence last month by a Vienna court that found him guilty of bodily harm, aggravated coercion and sexual assault against detained opponents of Assad while he headed the police’s criminal investigations department in the city of Raqqa more than a decade ago.
The Syria Justice and Accountability Center, a Syrian human rights organization, said the case exposed shortcomings in the Austrian judicial system after authorities allowed Abu Rukba to remain at liberty throughout proceedings and while challenging his prison sentence on appeal.
Abu Rukba had pleaded not guilty. In early August, he arrived in his hometown of Nawa in southern Daraa province, where his family held a reception to celebrate his return, the four sources familiar with the case said.
The invitation said he had been granted “release from prison,” according to a message sent to local dignitaries and seen by Reuters.
