Facts
Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, Syrian intelligence services (Military Intelligence, Air Force Intelligence and GIS) have reportedly been systematically arresting, torturing and killing persons who opposed or were suspected of opposing the Syrian regime. The government’s aim has been to stop the protest movement at the earliest possible stage through the intimidation of the population.
Khaled H. was a former general of the GIS from Raqqa (northeastern Syria). He is suspected of committing international crimes in detention facilities that were under his command.
According to media sources, France’s external intelligence agency helped Khaled H. escape from Syria to France in 2014, believing he could be a useful asset in the event that Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is defeated. His asylum request was not granted by French asylum authorities and he relocated to Austria.
Procedure
In 2016, the Austrian prosecutorial authorities initiated an investigation into the crimes allegedly committed by Khaled H.
Austrian authorities have further initiated investigations into several other officers of the Syrian intelligence services after 16 women and men from Syria filed a criminal complaint to the public prosecutor in Vienna in May 2018. The group of torture survivors filed the complaint together with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), Syrian lawyers Anwar al-Bunni (Syrian Center for Legal Research and Studies) and Mazen Darwish (Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression) and the Centre for the Enforcement of Human Rights International in Vienna. Following the submission, the prosecutor heard one of the complainants and initiated a criminal investigation.
Upon the prosecutor’s request, NGOs submitted additional evidence.
In November 2020, the Austrian investigative newspaper Kurier alleged that in 2015, the Austrian Office for the Protection of the Constitution (hereinafter the Office) assisted Khaled H. in relocating from France to Austria and in being granted asylum there.
In 2021, investigations continued without Khaled H. having been arrested or indicted. In September 2021, The New Yorker and the German magazine Der Spiegel reported in depth about how the Office assisted the suspect in moving from France to Austria, reportedly as a favor to Israeli Mossad. As a consequence, investigations against officers of the Austrian migration authority and the Office for suspicions of corruption and/or abuse of authority were commenced.
In October 2022, former leading personnel of these Austrian authorities were indicted in Vienna for manipulating the national asylum-procedure in order to hide Khaled H. in Austria.
In summer 2023, four high level members of the Austrian secret service that had facilitated Khaled H.’s entry into the country were acquitted in a trial in which they had been charged with the misuse of executive powers. The court did not find enough evidence to prove that the defendants had intentionally misused their powers to the detriment of the Republic of Austria.
On 12 November 2025, the Vienna Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that it had filed charges again Khaled H. and Musab A. R. for serious crimes against civilians in custody, namely torture, grievous bodily harm, sexual coercion, and aggravated coercion. 21 victims have joined the proceedings as private plaintiffs.