Facts
Salem al-Salem is suspected of having led, in his role as a colonel in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence department (AFI), a group tasked with quelling demonstrations in the suburbs of Damascus in 2011.
Procedure
The War Crimes Team of the Counter Terrorism Policing received a referral in November 2020 containing allegations relating to an individual whilst serving as a member of the Syrian armed forces during the early 2010s. An investigation was subsequently opened.
On 1 December 2021, officers from the Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Team visited an address in Buckinghamshire. The suspect was arrested on suspicion of being involved in crimes against humanity and a search was also carried out at the address. He was subsequently released on bail, under a 24-hour curfew.
On 9 March 2026, British prosecutors charged Salem al-Salem with seven offences, including three offences of murder as a crime against humanity, three offences of torture, and one offence of conduct ancillary to murder.