Man convicted of ‘murder as a terrorism offence’ and jailed for life after reportedly boasting of shooting troops in Homs region
A Syrian refugee has been jailed for life in Austria for killing 20 wounded government soldiers in his home country, like reported by theguardian.com.
A jury in the western city of Innsbruck found the 27-year-old guilty of 20 charges of “murder as a terrorism offence”.
The man was arrested at a refugee shelter in Tyrol state last June after being denounced by a fellow Syrian.
According to Austrian media, the accused had boasted to other asylum seekers of belonging to a rebel unit and shooting unarmed or injured troops loyal to the Syrian president, Bashar-al Assad, in the western region of Homs in 2013 and 2014.
After his arrest, the man initially admitted to the killings but later retracted his confession, saying his testimony had been badly translated.
The translator rejected this in court, saying: “The defendant told me he had shot badly wounded soldiers. I asked him to repeat his claim and he did.”
The man, who was not named, was tried for war crimes under Austrian law. It is thought to be the first time that a case involving war crimes in Syria has been tried in Austria. Killing injured soldiers is prohibited under the Geneva convention.
According to Der Standard, the man is of Palestinian origin and grew up in a refugee camp in Homs.
