Ex-Syrian intelligence chief found guilty of torture and sexual abuse by Austrian court

A former Syrian intelligence chief in the ​city of Raqqa has been found guilty of torture and sexual abuse of opponents of the former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, at a court in Vienna, Austria.A second Syrian official, the former police chief in Raqqa, was also found guilty of abusing political opponents.The case in Vienna was a relatively rare example of a European country claiming jurisdiction for crimes committed by agents of Assad's government.The former intelligence chief, named only as Khaled al-H. under Austrian privacy rules, was head of Syria's ​General Intelligence Directorate in Raqqa from 2011, when the uprising against Assad began, until 2013 when the Free ⁠Syrian Army took over the city. He then fled Raqqa.Khaled al-H., a member of the Druze ethno-religious minority, was found guilty of committing torture.Both he and the second man, named as Moussab Abou R., were found guilty of sexual coercion, aggravated coercion and inflicting serious bodily harm.They have each been sentenced to eight years in prison.