Inside the Alaa M. Trial #82: "I Don't Need Enemies Anymore"

Higher Regional Court – Frankfurt, Germany

Trial Monitoring Summary #82

Hearing Date: September 3 & 5, 2024

CAUTION: Some testimony includes descriptions of torture.

Note that this summary is not a verbatim transcript of the trial; it is merely an unofficial summary of the proceedings.

Throughout this summary, [information located in brackets are notes from our trial monitor] and “information placed in quotes are statements made by the witness, Judges or counsel.” The names and identifying information of witnesses have been redacted.

[Note: SJAC continues to provide a summary of the proceedings while redacting certain details to protect witness privacy and to preserve the integrity of the trial.]

SJAC’s 82nd trial monitoring report details days 147 and 148 of the trial of Alaa M. in Frankfurt, Germany. On the first trial day, the Defense shared a statement from the Accused, elucidating that the week before the summer break had caused him a lot of distress. On the same day, P38 appeared again, a witness who had already been questioned in trial week 74 but had been too tired to testify and was sent home.  [For more details, please see TR #74.] P38 is a doctor who was working at Al-Mazzeh Hospital in Damascus with Alaa M. Even though they had only seen each other a few times, P38 recounted Alaa M. to be pro-regime, remembering that the Accused had an Assad sticker on his car and that the military doctors always greeted him.

P38 testified on the treatment of detainees in Al-Mazzeh Hospital, recalling that they were beaten and shouted at. He also spoke about a special department with restricted access, limited to military doctors, where detainees were kept. He also remembered one incident in which Alaa M. accompanied the military doctors and one detainee to the special department. At the end of the session, there was confusion about P38’s testimony on his political orientation. [Redacted information].

On the second day this week, a new witness appeared via video chat. P48 was summoned by the Federal Prosecutor in [redacted location], where he resides. P48 initially refused to answer questions without his lawyer, repeating that he felt unsafe and overwhelmed. He also brought forward that he had a suspected case of Covid. Despite the Court's efforts, including impositions of monetary fines and threats of criminal proceedings, P48 maintained his refusal for almost two hours, until he unexpectedly agreed to testify.

P48 is a Syrian doctor who was friends with P35 and attended university with Alaa M. He described Alaa M. as not shy but denied being close friends or knowing specific details about him. The questioning focused on two chats between P48 and P35. One of them was a recent September 2023 chat where P35 debated deleting some of the messages from November 2011. [Note: for details regarding P35’s testimony, see TR #71.] In the chat, P48 responded that he would keep the messages to guarantee they might be beneficial to "him." When questioned in court this week, the witness claimed not to remember who "him" referred to, speculating that it might have been Alaa M.

After a break, P48 was joined by a lawyer. The messages from November 2011, in which P48 notified P35 of Alaa M.'s move to Damascus, were discussed. P48 claimed to not recall how he obtained the information and whether it came from Alaa M. directly. He had submitted these chats to the Court on his own initiative through a German lawyer. Defense Counsel Bonn inquired for his reasons for submitting the chats to the Court, which P48 admitted aimed to avoid testifying. Throughout the whole day, Judge Koller used a rough tone on the witness, refusing his requests to take breaks and reprimanding him for his disrespect for the [redacted location] and German justice because of his initial refusal to testify.

Day 147 – September 3, 2024

The first trial day this week marked the first session after the summer break. [Note: Three sessions in the week before were canceled because one of the Additional Judges was sick. On August 26, 2024, all parties, except for the Judges, had been present. After one hour of internal deliberation in the Judges room, Presiding Judge Koller came to the courtroom to address the parties, without opening the session. He informed everyone that one of the Additional Judges was unable to attend the main hearing owing to illness. The Judge explained that, if the trial had been almost completed, they would have continued the hearing without the Additional Judge. But because the trial is going to last for longer than three more months, the Additional Judge needed to be present.]

Today, the Additional Judge had recovered, and the main session continued. At the beginning of the trial day, Judge Koller explained again why the sessions last week had been canceled. Generally, the main hearing may only be interrupted for one month, see Section 229 (2) German Code of Criminal Procedure; a period which the summer break had corresponded to. However, according to the next paragraph, Section 229 (3) No. 1, the main hearing may be interrupted for a longer period, if "a person called to give judgment is unable to attend the main hearing owing to illness." According to a German Federal Court judgment from November 3, 2022, this includes the additional judges. Because the Additional Judge was able to attend today's session, the main hearing continued.

Judge Rhode informed the parties that he had attempted to contact a witness, [redacted name]. Despite being informed of her obligation to testify, [redacted name] provided several excuses for her absence, among others that her car was broken and that she did not remember anything. She did not appear today. [Note: It was unclear to the trial monitor when the witness was supposed to testify.]

The Defense, represented today by Endres and Bonn Jr., read out a statement that Alaa M. had prepared. This statement addressed his testimony from July 26, 2024, prior to the summer break, regarding the timeline of his move from Homs to Damascus, as discussed in his Facebook messages. [Note: These transcripts have been discussed the week before the summer break, on trial days 145 and 146. For more details, please see TR #81.] In his statement, Alaa M. emphasized that he had been under significant stress during that trial week. The Prosecution's revelation of an ongoing preliminary investigation into additional charges against him had caused him to have a sleepless night. The public reading of his Facebook posts added to his psychological stress, making him emotional and very nervous. The statement clarified that the references in the Accused’s messages to timestamps were imprecise and spontaneous, as he had not known that they would become important in the future. His statement claimed that such imprecision is common in Syrian culture.

The Judges resumed questioning P38. The witness had previously been questioned during week 74, but had been too tired and confused, and was dismissed early. [Note: For more details, please see TR #74.] Today, P38 confirmed that he was focused and not tired. He was assisted by the interpreter, Mr. Farrag. Throughout the session, there was some confusion about the language in which P38 should testify. He had a strong command of German and often answered the Judges' questions in German, without relying on the interpreter's help. On some occasions, however, the Judges asked P38 to testify in Arabic to ensure that all nuances of his testimony were correctly understood.

P38 is a [redacted information] surgeon, born and raised in [redacted name] but currently living in [redacted name]. He had been asked to prepare an overview of his work at hospitals in Syria. [Note: When he first testified in trial week 74, his job history did not become clear. For more details, please see TR #74.] He went to school and later studied medicine from [redacted time] in [redacted name]. He obtained his approbation on [redacted time]. Afterwards, he worked at Tishreen Hospital in Damascus until [redacted time], 2011. During the period relevant to the trial against Alaa M., P38 worked at Al-Mazzeh Hospital, from [redacted time] 2011 until [redacted time],[redacted name] [redacted name] Hospital, both in Damascus. In [redacted time], he fled to[redacted information]When asked about his political stance on the Assad regime, he [redacted information]. He explained that he and his family, who are Christian, tried to [redacted information].

Judge Koller asked P38 to describe his experiences in the hospitals after the conflict in Syria began. P38 recounted that the situation in Damascus was relatively calm in early 2011. However, by early 2012, the situation had deteriorated. Patients began arriving at the hospital as detainees, with their hands tied and their eyes blindfolded. These detainees were identified by [redacted information] rather than [redacted information] and were brought in by individuals in [redacted information]. P38 inferred that these detainees were political protestors.

Judge Koller asked if the patients P38 treated were also tied up and blindfolded. P38 stressed that he asked the soldiers to remove the restraints and blindfolds before he treated the patients. He recounted a particular incident where a patient was brought to the emergency room by three security guards, who were soldiers, one of whom was armed. P38 asked the armed soldier to put away his weapon, but when he refused, P38 sought assistance from the military police, who was [redacted information]. The military police escorted the soldiers out of the emergency room. The doctors had always enjoyed a great level of protection by the military police, even before the war. The following day, the highest-ranking military doctor instructed P38 to apologize to the soldier, but P38 refused. As a result, he was punished by being assigned to work in the emergency room for an entire month. In response, P38 called in sick for a week. When he had to return to the hospital, he prepared his documents and resigned from Al-Mazzeh Hospital.

P38 was also asked about the general treatment of detainees at Al-Mazzeh Hospital. After dodging the question several times, he recounted seeing and hearing detainees being beaten in the hospital. He also remembered a "special department" which was accessible only to [redacted information], and from it, he heard sounds of screams and beatings. He mentioned that even residents living near the hospital asked him about the screaming and whether something was happening inside. The special department had originally been for [redacted information], but its purpose had changed to detaining individuals.

***

[15-minutes-break]

***

After a short break, P38 recalled an incident from April or May 2012 in which he saw Alaa M. walking toward the special department with a military doctor and a detainee. Although he did not see Alaa M. enter the department, he noted that there was no other building in that direction. He also mentioned seeing military doctors greeting Alaa M. several times. P38 drew a sketch of the Al-Mazzeh Hospital site and pointed out the location of the emergency department and the special department for detainees on a satellite image of the area.

P38 then elaborated on his interactions with Alaa M. He recalled that they first met in early 2012, either in [redacted time] or [redacted time], but he could not remember the details of their initial encounter. He was sure Alaa M. arrived at the hospital when he, P38, had been working there for some time. P38 later saw Alaa M. a few times when Alaa M. was called to assist with a patient in his role as an orthopedic surgeon. They were not close and did not have a personal relationship. P38 was aware that Alaa M. supported Assad but could not recall specific details of their conversations. He did remember that Alaa M. had a pro-Assad sticker on the rear window of his car. He also remembered Alaa M. as a [redacted information].

Judge Rhode asked whether he had understood P38’s testimony correctly that [redacted information]. P38 affirmed. Judge Rhode then confronted P38 with three posts from a [redacted information] Facebook group. [Note: Judge Rhode shared his screen with the courtroom projector, allowing the witness and the public gallery to view the file.] P38 confirmed that the posts were made from his account but claimed that his account must have been hacked or that he had posted them ironically. He reiterated that he would never have published [redacted information] content and appeared visibly distressed. He agreed to let the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) investigate his Facebook profile and provided his account details to the Prosecutor. The Defense requested that the report detailing the [redacted information] posts be translated and formally introduced into the proceedings. Judge Koller agreed and informed the witness that he might be called to testify again, depending on the report's findings.

Neither the Prosecutor nor the Plaintiffs’ Counsel had any questions for the witness. Defense Counsel Endres asked P38 how many doctors were working in the Al-Mazzeh Hospital. P38 recounted that around [redacted information] or [redacted information] doctors were working there. Endres also wanted to know how many times P38 had treated detainees, to which P38 replied that he had treated around four or five detainees, possibly more. Alaa M. then asked P38 whether he had ever worked at the [redacted name] in Damascus, which the witness denied. Alaa M. also inquired if P38 knew certain doctors working there, named [redacted names], which the witness also denied.

Presiding Judge Koller thanked the witness for coming and dismissed him before closing the session. The witness may be recalled to testify again.

The proceedings were adjourned at 1:35PM.

The next trial day will be on September 5, 2024, at 10:00AM.

Day 148 – September 5, 2024

In the second session this week, a new witness appeared via video chat. P48 is a Syrian doctor who was friends with P35 and attended university with Alaa M. He was summoned by the Federal Prosecutor in [redacted location], where he resides. The [redacted location] Prosecutor was present throughout the questioning. The communication between the German Court and the [redacted location] Prosecutor was conducted in German. [redacted information]. P48 was wearing a medical mask. When Judge Koller asked him to remove it, P48 explained that he had a suspected case of Covid. He was allowed to keep wearing the mask.

In the beginning, P48 was reluctant to testify and did not respond to Judge Koller's question about his first name. Every time this question was posed, he replied, "I am feeling very unsafe, overwhelmed, and under pressure. Without my lawyer, I cannot provide accurate testimony. My lawyer notified the Prosecution in [redacted location] that he could not be present today, but it was not considered. This does not mean that I am unwilling to testify, but I cannot say anything without my lawyer present. I am very sorry about this". He repeated this or parts of this statement with each question, clearly having memorized it. Judge Koller repeatedly asked for the witness's first name. Interpreter Farrag was instructed to translate the question, but the witness claimed he could not understand the interpreter's dialect. Mr. Farrag repeated the question in Modern Standard Arabic but P48 continued to claim that he did not understand the interpreter. He made this claim several times during the session. Alaa M.'s interpreter, Defense Counsel Al-Agi, and Alaa M. assured the Court that Mr. Farrag spoke Modern Standard Arabic, which they, as native Syrian Arabic speakers, understood perfectly well.

After P48 repeatedly refused to answer questions about his first name and continued to ask for his lawyer, Judge Koller became displeased. He informed P48 that, as a witness, he did not have the right to refuse testimony because his lawyer was not present. [Note: Under German law, the absence of a lawyer does not grant a witness the right to refuse testimony. According to the German Code of Criminal Procedure, witnesses can decline to testify if they are related to the accused (Section 52) or based on professional privilege (Section 53, e.g., defense attorneys or clerks). Additionally, witnesses may refuse to provide information if it could expose them or their relatives to the risk of prosecution (Section 55). Witnesses are also allowed to avail themselves of legal counsel's assistance (Section 68b). However, there is no provision allowing a witness to refuse testimony solely because their lawyer is not present.] The Judges expressed that they would be careful about asking questions on the content of the trial that might put the witness, or his relatives in Syria, at risk. However, this caution did not extend to the P48’s first name. The [redacted location] Prosecutor affirmed that this was also correct under [redacted location] law.

The witness was asked to leave the room while the German Judges and the [redacted location] Prosecutor discussed ways to compel P48 to testify. They decided to threaten the witness with a monetary fine. When the [redacted location] Prosecutor warned of a 500 [redacted information] fine, the witness still refused to give his first name and continued to request his lawyer. He was fined, but his stance remained unchanged. Judge Koller asked for the name of P48’s lawyer. P48 said that his name was Mr. Youssef and repeated that he had contacted the Prosecutor in [redacted location]. Judge Koller expressed his confusion because a lawyer from Germany, Mr. Peters, had contacted the Court but had not asked to assist P48 during the questioning. P48 repeated that he would not testify without his lawyer present.

***

[15-minutes-break]

***

When the [redacted location] Prosecutor threatened and then imposed a 1000 [redacted information] fine, P48 still did not change his mind and repeated his statement. He asked for a break to call his lawyer. The [redacted location] Prosecutor informed Judge Koller that she had offered P48 to let him call his lawyer during the break, which P48 had declined. Judge Koller denied P48’s request for a break.

Judge Koller further explained to P48 that he would be required to reimburse the [redacted location] and German authorities for all expenses incurred due to his refusal to testify, including legal costs. The witness once again repeated his demand for the lawyer. Both the [redacted location] Prosecutor and Judge Koller then threatened to open criminal proceedings against the witness, accusing him of lying about his inability to understand the interpreter. The witness, however, repeated his statement. Judge Koller warned the witness that his behavior constituted a severe form of disregard for the judicial system. He also told P48 that he was in possession of several Facebook chats from P48’s account, which included many cuss words. If the witness agreed to testify, Judge Koller would elegantly leave out these words when discussing the chats. If, however, the witness would not testify, Judge Koller would be forced to read out the whole chat publicly and in detail. P48 still refused to testify. He was sent away from the investigation room. The [redacted location] Prosecutor proposed allowing the witness to contact his lawyer, to which Judge Koller agreed.

***

[20-minutes-break]

***

The witness was unable to reach his lawyer by phone, but the [redacted location] Prosecutor suggested a different lawyer from [redacted location], who could join the proceedings at 1:00 PM. At this point, it was after 11:30 AM. Judge Koller declined, stating that the Court would not allow its schedule to be dictated by the witness. He began discussing potential dates for resuming the questioning in October when P48 unexpectedly agreed to testify, almost two hours after the beginning of the session.

P48 then replied to Judge Koller’s questions as to his person. P48 informed the Court that his first name was [redacted name], that he was a [redacted information], and that he knew Alaa M. from their final years at the University of [redacted location], where they both graduated in [redacted time]. He claimed to not have been close friends with Alaa M., but mentioned they shared several mutual friends, including P35. There was some discussion about the nickname given to Alaa M. by his friends, [redacted information]. Judge Koller explained that the term meant "important person" or "poser." [Note: In a previous session, the nickname had been translated to mean someone with a strong personality. For more details see TR #71.] The witness claimed not to know the translation, saying the word had no particular meaning. He also told the Court that he barely knew Alaa M. Judge Koller asked P48 to comment on the Accused’s character. P48 replied that he did not recall much about Alaa M., remembering only that he was not shy.

Judge Koller then inquired about the hospitals where the witness had worked in Damascus. The witness recalled working at Tishreen, Al-Mazzeh, and Harasta Hospitals from [redacted time] 2010 until [redacted time] 2012 but could not remember the specific dates for each location. He recalled that his rotation started and ended in Tishreen and that he had spent one summer in Al-Mazzeh and one winter in Harasta.

When asked about the demonstrations and the war, P48 initially claimed only to have heard about them in the media. After Judge Koller reprimanded him, pointing out how unlikely it was for someone living in Syria in 2011 and 2012 to have no personal experience of the events, the witness admitted to having seen some incidents in the streets and hearing bomb blasts in Damascus. However, he continued to deny ever treating war-wounded patients in any of the hospitals, asserting that, as a [redacted information], he treated only [redacted information] patients.

Several times, P48 kept evading general questions and saying that he did not remember anything or that he did not know what the Judges’ questions were pointing at. He asked the Judges to ask more specific questions. Judge Koller reprimanded him, telling P48 that he, Judge Koller, was the one deciding how the questioning was being conducted. P48 also asked for a break several times, indicating that he wanted to drink water because his throat hurt. Judge Koller did not comply with the request, and instead told P48 that they had already lost too much time because of his refusal to testify in the morning. [Note: P48 appeared to have a water bottle on his desk in the [redacted location] Prosecutor’s office. Normally, witnesses are not forbidden to drink water during their testimony.]

The questioning then shifted to conversations and chats between P48 and P35. Two chats were of interest: one from November 2011 and another from September 2023. Judge Rhode read out the September 2023 chat, in which P35 mentioned wanting to delete some messages from 2011. P48 responded in the chat that he would keep the messages to guarantee credibility, in case they might be beneficial to "him." When questioned today, the witness claimed not to remember who "him" referred to, speculating that it might have been Alaa M. [Note: These chats have already been discussed during the questioning of P35. For more details, please see TR #71.] P48 also said he had not spoken to P35 since the trial against Alaa M. began. P48 informed the Court that he had issues understanding Judge Rhode acoustically. Judge Koller asked the [redacted location] Prosecutor whether all Judges were understandable in the [redacted location] interrogation room, which she affirmed. Judge Koller reprimanded the witness for trying to evade the questions regarding his chat messages with P35.

***

[60-minutes-break]

***

After the lunch break, P48 was joined by the lawyer from [redacted location] who the [redacted location] Prosecutor had proposed. Judge Rhode confronted P48 with the content of the November 2011 messages, which had been submitted to the Court by P48's lawyer, Mr. Peters. In this Facebook chat, P48 messaged P35, saying that he had good news for him because Alaa M. was moving to Damascus the following week and was going to bring a PlayStation. Judge Koller asked why P48 was able to give this news to P35. He wondered how P48 would have obtained this information and how he could know that P35, who, allegedly, was a lot closer to Alaa M., did not know about the move yet. The witness could not recall how he had obtained this information or whether it came directly from Alaa M.

P48 further mentioned that he had only been Facebook friends with Alaa M. since 2012, seemingly to distance himself from Alaa M. Alaa M.'s reaction to that statement was to say out loud: "I don't need enemies anymore" which Judge Koller pointed out to the witness. P48 also noted that his only contact with Alaa M. was in late 2014 when they both wanted to move to Germany and discussed the best places to apply for recognition of their medical credentials.

The last row of questions from the Judges was led by Judge Rhode. He asked P48 whether he was an Orthodox Christian. P48’s lawyer intervened and noted that the witness would not have to answer that question. Judge Koller asked her to substantiate this claim. The lawyer asserted that the witness would have to fear disadvantages if he answered that question, as there were constant attacks on religious groups in [redacted location]. Judge Koller told P48 he had to answer the question, and his lawyer was talking “nonsense”. Judge Rhode resolved the situation. He explained that he only wanted to know whether August 15, 2012 (Assumption Day) held any particular significance for the witness, which he denied. Lastly, P48 denied being aware that Alaa M. was in an accident or was injured in [redacted location].

Among the other parties, only the Defense side posed questions to P48. Throughout the session, the witness mentioned that he had learned about P35's testimony and the content of the September 2023 chat by reading detailed reports on the internet. Both Defense Counsel Al-Agi and Alaa M. asked where he had found these reports. P45 explained that he had initially read reports by Al-Bunni, but when those ceased, he found reports on a website published in both English and Arabic. Alaa M. asked if the website was called "Syria Justice and Accountability Something," which the witness confirmed. Defense Counsel Bonn then asked several questions about the witness's motive for sending the November 2011 chats to the Court. After some hesitation, the witness admitted that he had hoped submitting the chats would exempt him from testifying in court.

Judge Koller dismissed the witness, thanked the [redacted location] Prosecutor and her colleagues and apologized to the [redacted location] lawyer for his choice of words.

The proceedings were adjourned at 3:15 PM.

The next trial day will be on September 10, 2024, at 10:00AM.

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