Archive: Trial Monitoring

Inside the Raslan trial: Torture, an Insider Witness, and Facebook

TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN and EYAD AL GHARIB Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 6 Hearing dates of July 1, 2, 3, & 6, 2020 CAUTION: Some testimony includes descriptions of torture. [Information located in brackets are notes from our court monitor]. (Information located in parentheses is information stated by the witness, […]

PRESS RELEASE: Syrian journalist and human rights organization secure access to Arabic translation of the Anwar Raslan trial

  Berlin/Koblenz, 19 August 2020 – Accredited Arabic-speaking journalists will finally have access to simultaneous German-Arabic interpretation during the world’s first trial on Syrian state torture before the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany. This was ordered by the German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe on 18 August 2020. In doing so, the court granted the […]

Inside the Raslan Trial: The First Insider Witness Testifies

TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN and EYAD AL GHARIB Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 5 Hearing dates of June 24 & 25, 2020 Full PDF of the report can be found here. [Information located in brackets are notes from our court monitor]. (Information located in parenthesis is information stated by the witness, […]

Witness or Suspect? The Trial of Anwar Raslan and Eyad Al Gharib

As the trial of Anwar Raslan and Eyad Al-Gharib enters its fifth month, a recurring issue surrounds the initial police questioning of the Accused. Should Raslan and Al-Gharib’s statements to police be accepted as evidence of guilt? The answer will depend on the status of Raslan and Al-Gharib at the time of questioning: were they […]

Inside the Raslan Trial: Victims Testify

  TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN and EYAD AL GHARIB Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 4 Hearing dates of June 3, 4, & 5, 2020 Full PDF of the report can be found here, available in English and Arabic.   Note: Some testimony includes descriptions of torture. [Information located in brackets are […]

“They made me do it” – Necessity and Duress Defenses

A big moment in the trial of Anwar Raslan and Eyad Al Gharib came on May 18 when Anwar Raslan’s defense counsel presented Raslan’s statement to the court. Syrian victims in the court were curious to understand how those accused of such serious crimes would respond to the charges. One said, “I thought I would […]

Inside the Raslan Trial: Details on Branch 251

TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN and EYAD AL GHARIB Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 3 Hearing dates of May 27, 28 & 29, 2020   Summary / Highlights Trial Day 7 Three witnesses—a police inspector, translator and police high commissioner—testified about their questioning of Eyad Al-Gharib. The police inspector testified that Accused […]

Inside the Anwar Raslan Trial: Raslan speaks (through his lawyer)

TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN and EYAD AL GHARIB Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 2 Hearing dates of May 18 & 19, 2020 Highlights Trial Day 5 Four witnesses from the German government, including a translator, testified about their interviews with Eyad Al-Gharib during his asylum procedure. Anwar Raslan’s defence counsel read […]

Inside the Anwar Raslan trial: the first four days

TRIAL OF ANWAR RASLAN and EYAD AL GHARIB Higher Regional Court – Koblenz, Germany Trial Monitoring Report 1 Hearing dates of April 23, 24, 27, 28 & 29, 2020 Highlights Trial Day 1 Anwar Raslan and Eyad Al-Gharib appeared in court for the first time. The charges of the indictment were read out in court, […]

SJAC to monitor first trial of Senior Government Official

A German court has scheduled the first hearings in the ground-breaking trial of a former Syrian government official and his subordinate for acts of torture, the first criminal trial worldwide on state torture in Syria. The Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany has scheduled the trial of Anwar R. and Eyad A. to commence on […]