Prosecutors want 30 years for Syrian man accused of torture 

The public prosecution service has requested a 30 year sentence for a 57-year-old man, accused of being the lead interrogator in a Syrian paramilitary group.

“The horrors that took place defy all imagination,” the public prosecution service said in a statement.

Rafiq al Q is on trial in The Hague, facing 25 counts of torture and sexual assault. According to the public prosecution service, he was the chief interrogator for the National Defence Force, a paramilitary group affiliated with the Syrian regime.

He has denied the charges against him.

“The people who said I was hitting them…that is not correct,” the man said, speaking through an interpreter on the opening day of the trial.

The case is the first in the Netherlands where the accused is alleged to be a member of pro-Assad forces. The government of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in 2024.

Prosecutors cite the fall of the Assad regime as one reason the trial could take place. “Because the Assad regime fell while the investigation in this case was ongoing, which made witnesses dare to testify by name,” the public prosecution service said.

Nine victims traveled to The Hague to give testimony. “Not only did he tear my body apart, but he trampled on my soul. He was the worst nightmare of my life,” one man said, who was not identified for security reasons.

Other Dutch prosecutions have focused on members of non-regimes groups.

Earlier, Mustafa A, who sought asylum in the Netherlands in 2020, was sentenced to 12 years in 2024 for torturing civilians. Another Syrian man who has been a refugee in the Netherlands since 2014 was jailed for 23.5 years on appeal for his role in the killing of a Syrian army officer and for terrorism.

The Netherlands uses a legal principle known as universal jurisdiction to prosecute people accused of very serious crimes that took place abroad.

Proceedings against Rafiq al Q will continue into May and judges expect to issue a verdict on June 8.