Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) – In the trial against a Syrian doctor accused of human rights violations, a colleague of the accused testified as a witness before the Higher Regional Court (OLG) in Frankfurt on Monday. Among other things, it was about the conditions in the military hospital where both men worked. The vast majority of people working at the hospital have been loyal to the Syrian regime, he said. He has a collegial relationship with the accused, but no close private contact. Politics was not discussed.
The federal prosecutor accuses the accused of torturing civilians detained in two military hospitals in his hometown of Homs and in Damascus and in the prison of the Syrian military intelligence service.
“Before the events began, his reputation was good,” said the defendant’s colleague. But when unrest began after demonstrations against the Syrian government and government opponents were treated in the military hospitals, for example with gunshot wounds, that changed “because he started praising the system and torturing people.” For the Syrian regime, the colleague was considered “one of the heroes,” said the witness. However, he knew the allegations against the accused mainly from hearsay and had seen nursing staff mistreating incarcerated patients in particular.
The witness said that the doctors were never left alone when treating injured members of the opposition. This was to prevent the name of a patient becoming known and the relatives being informed. The doctors only knew the patients as numbers. “Check the wound, change the bandage, return,” he said, describing what was expected of the doctors. He himself did not get involved in political discussions because he was afraid. He knows of two colleagues who were arrested for treating injured members of the opposition outside the hospital.
The accused doctor had denied the allegations against him and said in his statement that he had come to terms with the system – like millions of other Syrians.