Facts
During the Syrian civil war, which began in 2011, the intelligence services of the former Syrian regime (Military Intelligence, Air Force Intelligence and General Intelligence Services) reportedly systematically arrested, tortured and killed persons who opposed or were suspected of opposing the regime. The former government’s aim was to stop the protest movement at the earliest possible stage through the intimidation of the population.
In their roles as head of the General Intelligence Branch 335 and head of investigations of the Criminal Security Branch, Khaled H. and Musab A. R. are suspected of having committed crimes against civilians in detention facilities under their command between 2011 and 2013 in Raqqa, Syria. They are alleged to have orchestrated and to have personally participated in the torture and abuse of detainees, as part of efforts to suppress protests against former president Bashar al-Assad. Former detainees are reported to have experienced beatings, electric shocks and the use of primitive instruments to inflict suffering at detention facilities under their control.
In 2014, Khaled H. travelled to France where he requested asylum. 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., following the submission of evidence by the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA). The investigation into the crimes allegedly committed by Musab A. R. was initiated in 2016.
In November 2020, the Austrian investigating newspaper Kurier alleged that in 2015, the Austrian Office for the Protection of the Constitution (the Office) assisted Khaled H. in relocating from France to Austria and in being granted asylum there.
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 favour to the national intelligence agency of Israel, Mossad. Investigations against officers of the Austrian migration authority and the Office for suspicions of corruption and/or abuse of authority were commenced in 2018 following a motion by the prosecutor in charge of the investigation.
In October 2022, former leading personnel of these Austrian authorities were indicted in Vienna for manipulating the national asylum-procedure 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 serious coercion. Twenty-one victims have joined the proceedings as private plaintiffs.
Khaled H. is reported to have been in the custody of the Austrian authorities since December 2024.
Khaled H.’s trial started on 1 June 2026.