Arab News | Assad-era Syrian official jailed for 60 years by US court

WASHINGTON: A former Syrian government official who headed the Damascus Central Prison under ousted President Bashar al-Assad and was convicted of torture by a US federal jury has been sentenced to 60 years in prison by a US judge, federal prosecutors said.

Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 74, was charged in 2024 and convicted in March this year on three counts of torture and one count of conspiracy to commit torture for his involvement in the abuse of prisoners at Adra Prison in Damascus.

Alsheikh was also convicted of lying to US immigration authorities about his commission ‌of the crimes, ‌fraudulently obtaining a green card and attempting to ‌naturalize as a US citizen, the US Department of Justice said.

Thursday’s sentence was handed down by US District Judge Hernan Vera in Los Angeles.

Prosecutors said Alsheikh ordered subordinates to inflict physical and mental pain on prisoners to deter opposition to Assad’s government and was sometimes personally involved in such incidents.

The US Justice Department said Alsheikh, who held positions in the state security apparatus, was the highest-ranking former member of Assad’s government to be tried and ‌convicted in person outside Syria so far.

Alsheikh’s ‌legal team had asked for a five-year sentence. In March, they said they were “disappointed” ‌by his conviction. Alsheikh, who headed Adra Prison from 2005 to ‌2008, had previously pleaded not guilty.

Khaled Abdul Malek, a witness in the case who was detained and tortured at Adra prison, said in a written statement shared with reporters that the sentencing showed that “even when justice is delayed, it will ‌always come”.

“This trial is not the end, but the first step on the road toward accountability and justice for everyone whose hands have been stained with the blood of innocent people,” he said. Syrian rebels put an end to more than 50 years of rule by the Assad family in late 2024 following a lightning advance. Hundreds of thousands died in a civil war that lasted more than a decade, unleashed a global refugee crisis and left cities across the country in ruins.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander, took over after Assad’s ouster and has worked to improve ties with the West.

Last month, a Syrian court sentenced Assad, who resides in Russia, in absentia to death after convicting him of crimes including killings, torture, and arbitrary arrest during the country’s war.