Musab Abu Rukbah detained in Syria after Austrian conviction

Musab Abu Rukbah, a former Syrian police chief convicted in Austria for abuses committed during the Syrian civil war, has been detained by the Syrian government.

Abu Rukbah was previously sentenced to eight years in prison by a Vienna court. However, after appealing the sentence, he left Austria and returned to his hometown of Nawa in the Daraa province. Because a higher court in Vienna had not deemed him a flight risk, he was permitted to remain free without travel bans or passport restrictions while his appeal was pending.

Syria’s Internal Security Forces announced his arrest on Saturday, stating it was part of “ongoing security operations to prosecute those involved in terrorism cases and take the necessary legal action against them.” Following reports of his return, Tatiana Urdaneta Wittek, director of the Center for the Enforcement of Human Rights International and lawyer for the victims, had applied for an international arrest warrant.