Former Syrian general acquitted of war crimes by Swedish court

Prosecution failed to prove Mohammed Hamo's division was involved in 'indiscriminate attacks' or he played a role in providing arms for the assaults

Former Syrian brigadier general Mohammed Hamo was acquitted of aiding and abetting war crimes in Syria in 2012. Reuters/file

A former Syrian general was acquitted of war crimes by a Stockholm court on Thursday, after the prosecution failed to prove his division was involved in “indiscriminate attacks” or he played a role in providing arms for the assaults.

Former brigadier general Mohammed Hamo, 65, who was one of the highest-ranking Syrian military officials to have been tried in Europe, was accused of “aiding and abetting” war crimes including “indiscriminate attacks” on the towns of Hama and Homs in 2012.

The war in Syria between President Bashar Al Assad's regime and armed opposition groups erupted after the government repressed peaceful pro-democracy protests in 2011.

Prosecutors claimed Mr Hamo contributed through “advice and action” to the Syrian army's tactics, “which systematically involved indiscriminate attacks on several towns or places in the area in and around the towns of Hama and Homs”.

They said the former officer allegedly helped with the co-ordination and supply of arms to units, enabling the carrying out of orders at an “operational level”.

However, in a statement announcing its verdict, Stockholm District Court said the Syrian military had used “indiscriminate attacks” at that time but the prosecution failed to prove that Mr Hamo's division was involved in those attacks, or that he had a role in providing arms for the assaults.

“The main issues in the case are whether the 11th Division of the Syrian Army participated in indiscriminate attacks in certain areas and whether the defendant participated in arming the division in those attacks,” Judge Katarina Fabian wrote.

“According to the District Court, there is no evidence to clarify these issues. The evidence presented by the prosecution has therefore not been deemed sufficient to convict the defendant of a criminal offence."

Syrian soldiers cheering President Bashar Al Assad during his visit to al-Habit. Syrian Presidency

Little is known about the 65-year-old Mr Hamo. In June 2012, he was transferred to northern Syria, and the following month he decided to leave the army and fled to Turkey. There, he joined a group that was fighting against the Syrian regime.

He traveled to Sweden in 2015, where he sought asylum. He was granted asylum, but Sweden's Migration Board informed the government that Hamo was previously "a senior officer within the framework of an army that was systematically considered to have committed violations of human rights.”

Mr Hamo was living in central Sweden when he was arrested on December 7, 2021. A court at the time released him two days later, saying there wasn’t enough evidence to keep him incarcerated. He has since been free.

The Syrian war has killed more than 500,000 people, displaced millions and ravaged the country's economy and infrastructure.

Syrian women walk past destruction in the Baba Amr neighbourhood of Homs in 2012. AFP

The prosecution argued that the Syrian army's “widespread air and ground attacks” caused damage “at a scale that was disproportionate in view of the concrete and immediate general military advantages that could be expected to be achieved”.

Mr Hamo denied criminal responsibility and his lawyer, Mari Kilman, told the court the officer could not be held liable for the actions “as he had acted in a military context and had to follow orders”.

“What is noteworthy about this case is that this is the first trial concerning the Syrian military's warfare. That is, how the warfare was carried out,” said Aida Samani, senior legal adviser at rights group Civil Rights Defenders, which has been monitoring the trial.

No European court has previously dealt with this issue and the impact on civilian lives and infrastructure, she added.

Mr Hamo is the highest-ranking military official to go on trial in Europe in person, though other countries have tried to bring charges against more senior members.

In March, Swiss prosecutors charged Rifaat Al Assad, an uncle of the President, with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But it remains unlikely Rifaat Al Assad – who recently returned to Syria after 37 years in exile – will show up for the trial, for which a date has yet to be set.

Swiss law allows for trials in absentia under certain conditions.

In November, France issued an international arrest warrant for Bashar Al Assad, accusing him of complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes over chemical attacks in 2013.

Al Al Quaryatayn in Homs province in December 2021. Prosecutors claimed Mr Hamo contributed through 'advice and action' to the Syrian army's tactics, involving attacks in and around Hama and Homs. AFP

Three other international warrants were also issued for the arrests of President Assad's brother Maher, the de facto chief of the army's elite Fourth Division, and two generals.

In May, a Paris court also ordered life prison sentences for three top Syrian security officials for complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The accused – Ali Mamlouk, former head of the National Security Bureau; Jamil Hassan, former director of the air force intelligence service; and Abdel Salam Mahmoud, former head of investigations – were all tried in their absence, but there are international warrants for their arrest.

In January 2022, a German court sentenced former colonel Anwar Raslan to life in jail for crimes against humanity. That was the first international trial over state-sponsored torture in Syria and was hailed by victims as a victory for justice.