Swedish court acquits former Syrian army general accused of role in war crimes

Swedish court acquits former Syrian army general accused of role in war crimes

A Swedish court on Thursday Sweden acquitted a former Syrian army general accused of playing a role in war crimes committed in 2012 in his home country

ByThe Associated Press

June 20, 2024, 5:09 AM

COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) —

A Swedish court on Thursday Sweden acquitted a former Syrian army general accused of playing a role in war crimes committed in 2012 in his home country.

Brig. Gen Mohammed Hamo, who now lives in Sweden, was charged in February with aiding and abetting crimes violating international law.

Syria has been ravaged by civil war for over 13 years.

Little is known about the 65-year-old Hamo. He defected from the Syrian army in July 2012 and joined those fighting to remove President Bashar Assad from power. Syrian opposition activists say he was involved in fighting in the once rebel-held neighborhood of Baba Amr in Homs, Syria’s third largest city.

He lived in central Sweden at the time when he was arrested over his supposed participation in war crimes 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 unrest in Syria between Assad’s regime and opposition groups began in March 2011, and later exploded into a civil war that has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of 23 million.

The trial at the Stockholm District Court started April 15. The last court session was May 21.