A Syrian-born doctor sentenced in Germany to life in prison for torture and war crimes committed in his native country has appealed the verdict, a court said on Monday.
The 40-year-old doctor was convicted last week of torturing and killing people in Syria, and given the maximum sentence of life imprisonment with preventive detention due to a finding of special guilt.
A spokeswoman for the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court said it will be some time before the Federal Court of Justice can deal with the appeal. The regional court has until April 2026 to write the ruling, before the defendant’s lawyers can justify their appeal.
The trial lasted almost three and a half years, with the doctor pleading not guilty. It was made possible under the principle of universal jurisdiction in international criminal law, which allows Germany to prosecute war crimes committed abroad by foreign nationals.
According to the court, the man tortured civilians suspected of opposing then-ruler Bashar al-Assad, whose regime was toppled by an Islamist-led rebel alliance in December last year.
The doctor has been living in Germany for 10 years and was most recently working as an orthopaedic surgeon in a small town in the western state of Hesse.