LONDON — A judge in Britain ruled Friday that a former Syrian air force colonel is mentally and physically unable to stand trial on three murder charges filed as crimes against humanity, stemming from attacks on civilians in 2011.
Not guilty pleas were formally entered on behalf of Salem al-Salem, 58, at the Central Criminal Court after prosecutors accepted medical evidence showing that his rare neurological condition has progressed too far for him to enter a plea or participate in a trial.
Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb announced that al-Salem will instead face a trial of facts next year covering the murder and torture allegations, though he will not be required to appear in court. That proceeding can determine whether he carried out the alleged acts, but it cannot lead to a criminal conviction due to his medical condition.
Al-Salem holds a historic distinction as the first individual in the United Kingdom to face murder charges classified as a crime against humanity under the International Criminal Court Act of 2001. British law permits prosecutors to pursue charges for certain international offenses — including crimes against humanity and torture — regardless of where those acts took place.
According to prosecutors, al-Salem was a member of a Syrian Air Force Intelligence unit that worked to crush demonstrations in the Damascus suburb of Jobar during the government’s violent crackdown on the Arab Spring uprising against former President Bashar Assad’s authoritarian rule.
At a prior hearing, prosecutor Emilie Pottle described al-Salem’s alleged role in detail. “He was tasked with quelling civilian protests against the regime and the defendant ordered officers under his command to shoot protesters and he himself shot protesters,” Pottle said. “The murders were part of a widespread and systemic attack against the civilian population.”
Al-Salem appeared in court via video link wearing an oxygen mask. Prosecutor Tom Little described al-Salem’s condition as a progressive and fatal motor neuron disease that has left him paralyzed in all four limbs, cognitively impaired, and barely able to communicate.
Reading from a doctor’s report, Little said: “The motor neuron disease is now advanced. In addition, there is associated depression, apathy and cognitive impairment as well as severely restricted speech. The defendant is monosyllabic and only really understandable to close family.”
Al-Salem faces murder charges in connection with the deaths of Omar Al-Homsi, Nizar Fayoumi-AlKhatib, and Talhat Dalal, who were killed in April and July of 2011. He also faces a charge of conduct ancillary to murder in the death of Mohammed Salim Zahrak Balik.
In addition to the murder charges, al-Salem is accused of torturing three other individuals in the course of his official duties. Prosecutors allege he was present and took part in interrogations during which detainees were beaten, subjected to electric shocks, and suspended from a ceiling by handcuffs.
