Syria Court Sentences Iran-Linked Militia Member to Life in Jail
DAMASCUS: A Syrian court sentenced a man tied to the Iran-backed Liwa al-Quds militia to life imprisonment after finding him guilty of joining an armed group accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, state news agency SANA said Wednesday.
The court convicted Abdul Jabbar Ghazi Arziq guilty of joining an armed group related to Liwa al-Quds, a militia linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the report said.
It said the gang tried to incite civil war, sectarian warfare and take towns. It found the acts to be war crimes and crimes against humanity under relevant legal laws, due to their relation to what it termed systematic and widespread crimes committed within the framework of Syria’s overthrown regime.
The life sentence was among grounds, including the nature of the offences and the threat they represented to people and social stability, Radif Mustafa, director of the Accountability and Prosecution Department at Syria’s National Commission for Transitional Justice, stated.
SANA said the court dismissed mitigating circumstances for Arziq and found him ineligible for a general or special amnesty.
The verdict shows that serious crimes cannot be wiped away by political developments or changing circumstances, Mustafa said, adding that accountability should be based on evidence and court procedures to ensure that criminals are held accountable and victims achieve justice.
The Accountability and Prosecution Department is still pursuing cases of serious violations and at the same time is collecting information and evidence as per legal procedures,” he said.
The agency urged anyone with information or evidence to come forward through formal channels to help efforts to get to the bottom of matters and ensure responsibility, while safeguarding the confidentiality of information and safety of witnesses.
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