A former Syrian colonel has appeared in a London court to face charges of crimes against humanity in the first prosecution of its kind in England and Wales.
Salem Al-Salem, 58, is charged with murder and torture, crimes allegedly committed during the Syrian government’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Damascus in 2011. He fled to the UK and is alleged to have played a leading role in the violence at the start of the uprising against Bashar al-Assad, which led to a civil war and the eventual overthrow of Assad’s regime in 2024.
Al-Salem faces three counts of murder as a crime against humanity, three of torture and one of conduct ancillary to murder. The crimes are alleged to have happened while he was serving as a colonel in the Syrian air force intelligence department, leading a group that attempted to quell demonstrations in Jobar, a village on the outskirts of Damascus.
He appeared at Westminster magistrates court via video link on Tuesday with a breathing tube over his mouth. The court was told he had motor neurone disease and was housebound. The chief magistrate, Paul Goldspring, agreed he did not need to give his name because of his health condition, but refused his lawyer’s request for reporting restrictions to protect his identity.
The case marks the first time the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has brought charges of murder as a crime against humanity under the International Criminal Court Act 2001. The charges relate to the murders of Omal Al-Homsi, Nizar Fayoumi-AlKhatib, Mohammed Salim Zahrak Balik and Talhat Dalal in April and July 2011. Al-Salem is also alleged to have tortured three people between August 2011 and March 2012.
Al-Salem, who is under a 24-hour curfew, was arrested in Buckinghamshire in 2021 and released on bail. The case will continue at the Old Bailey with a hearing on Friday.
