Inside the Alaa M. Trial #70: The Accused and His Witnesses Under Scrutiny

Higher Regional Court – Frankfurt, Germany

Trial Monitoring Summary #70

Hearing Date: March 14, 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.

SJAC’s 70th trial monitoring report details day 119 of the trial of Alaa M. in Frankfurt, Germany. On the trial day this week, a report on an investigation conducted by the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) into P34 was shown in court, followed by displaying the transcript of his questioning at the Federal Court of Justice. Moreover, the linguistic expert, Ms. Kühn, read the German translation of various reports and documents.

Day 119 – March 14, 2024

On this trial day, the Accused's interpreter, Mr. Baracat, was not present. His substitute, Mr. Khoury, was not yet a sworn interpreter, so he took the oath in court. Presiding Judge Koller then took confirmation from the Accused that he did not need a translation of the report of which he received a copy.

Presiding Judge Koller explained in a statement which he was reading that the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) investigated P34, as Counsel Al-Agi contacted the investigating judge and informed him that P34 was a friend of M. and was willing to testify. He would be able to confirm that M. was with him in Damascus - not in Homs where the crimes were allegedly committed by M. Koller explained that the police investigation revolved around P34’s Facebook account.

Upon request by Judge Koller, all parties agreed that the note, on which Chief Criminal Inspector Mr. Kessler worked regarding P34, to be shown in court.

[The note was shown on the screens. The following is an outline of what was shown based on what the trial monitor was able to document.]

After that, the transcript of P34’s questioning at the German Federal Court of Justice was shown on screen and read quickly by the Judges.

[The following is an outline of what was shown based on what the trial monitor could document. For more details, please refer to Trial Report #68.]

The questioning was conducted in the presence of investigative judge, Mr. Sturm; Prosecutor Ritscher; Mr. Haverkamp; Mr. Singer. Mr. Koca served as the interpreter and confirmed that the witness understood him clearly. On December 7, 2020, Defense Counsel Al-Agi handed over documents to the Federal Court of Justice regarding the witness, [P34].

[The following is an outline of P34’s statements from the questioning.]

P34 worked for Roots Steel. M. lived with [redacted name] and used to drive him in his car to the bus station in the morning. [Redacted name] came to Damascus in May or June 2012. There were many roadblocks that made him arrive very late for work. He recalled M.'s engagement [to his fiancée]. P34 did not perform military service. He declared that he is an Alawite. M. worked in Mezzeh 601 Hospital. He never visited M. in the hospital except once when M. was injured. Last time P34 saw M. was in mid-2014 in Damascus. P34 did not know whether M. was right- or left-handed. M. usually carried a lighter and cigarettes of the brand, [redacted]. He talked to M. about the surgical operations M. performed, not about the people M. operated on. P34 postponed his military service because he was the sole breadwinner for his family before his brother turned eighteen. P34 did not join the military between 2012 and 2014 because he was still a student. He worked as an accountant at Sama TV channel and left his job due to a dispute with his employer. He tried to go to Norway but failed and applied for asylum in [redacted location]. He works at the company, “[redacted]”. Currently, he is not in contact with M. Al-Agi contacted P34, told him that he was M.’s Defense Counsel, and asked him if he was willing to appear in court as a witness, and P34 confirmed. P34 was fearing the Islamists and therefore supported Al-Assad. M. lived with [redacted names] in Damascus.

When a screenshot of the picture he posted on September 27, 2012 was shown during the questioning, P34 commented that it was an old picture.

When a screenshot of the picture he posted on October 4, 2012 was shown during the questioning, the interpreter, Mr. Koca found it difficult to translate the expression “At your service, oh Assad لبيك يا أسد” and provided a rough translation. One of those who liked this Picture was a person called “Abo Kenan أبو كنان” and then the investigating judge asked P34 if he was in contact with anyone at the Syrian embassy, P34 denied.

P34 was dismissed at 4:09PM.

Presiding Judge Koller displayed on screens the pictures that were shown during the questioning at the Federal Court of Justice.

Subsequently, the Judges displayed the list of persons and entities under EU restrictive measures over the situation in Syria. The Judges read a specific column, which listed one of P26 and P28’s uncles whose name was included in the list [For more details, please refer to Trial Reports #60 and #66].

***

[5-minute-break]

***

After the break, Ms. Kühn appeared as a linguistic expert in court. Presiding Judge Koller praised Ms. Kühn’s work and thanked her for translating documents for today’s session and tomorrow’s session for another trial. Judge Kohler informed Ms. Kühn that the instructions he had given her at the previous hearing on 20 February 2024 remained in effect.

Ms. Kühn resumed reading the report she started in the last hearing and finished reading the remaining part this day. The Judges then displayed a press statement by the U.S. Department of State, and Ms. Kühn read the German translation. Finally, the Judges displayed a page about one of P26 and P28’s uncles whose name was included in the sanctions list, and Ms. Kühn read the German translation of the page. Mrs. Kühn was then dismissed.

At the conclusion of the hearing, Presiding Judge Koller explained that the psychological expert, Dr. Berger, would begin exploring M.’s behavior starting today [for more details, please refer to Trial Report #59], and then adjourned the hearing.

The proceedings were adjourned at 2:20PM.

The next trial day will be on March 19, 2024, at 10AM.

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