A Syria-born doctor was sentenced to life in prison for torture and war crimes committed in his home country, the court said Monday.
The 40-year-old doctor was convicted last week of being sentenced to torture and killing people in Syria for discovering a special sense of guilt and was in preventive custody.
A spokesman for the Frankfurt High District Court said it would take some time for the federal court to handle the appeal. The district court must write a ruling by April 2026 before the defendant's attorney can justify his appeal.
The trial lasted nearly three and a half years, and the doctor begged not to plead guilty. In accordance with the principle of universal jurisdiction in international criminal law, this allows Germany to prosecute war crimes committed by foreign nationals abroad.
The man tortured civilians suspected of opposing then-ruler Bashar al-Assad, a regime that was overthrown by a rebel coalition led by Islamists in December, according to the court.
The doctor lived in Germany for 10 years and recently worked as an orthopedic surgeon in a small town in the western state of Hessen.
