Syrian man in Netherlands convicted of war crimes for soldier's execution
A court sentenced Ahmad al Khedr to 20 years in prison for his role in the 2012 execution of a regime soldier, which was captured on film.
A court in the Netherlands on Friday sentenced a Syrian man to 20 years in prison over the execution of a captured government soldier during the country’s civil war. Judges said the 49-year-old defendant, Ahmad al Khedr, was guilty of war crimes.
The primary evidence in the case was 2012 video footage that shows the execution of a lieutenant colonel in the Syrian air force. In addition to the video footage, a number of witnesses were tracked down across several countries and interviewed.
Prosecutors said Khedr can be heard in the videos leading the bloodied soldier, whose hands were tied behind his back, to the bank of the Euphrates River. Before the soldier was shot with multiple bullets, he said in his final moments: “By God, I haven’t killed anyone.”
“It did not matter whether the victim had or had not killed anyone. ... He was killed for another reason. For revenge,” the prosecution said in a statement.
