World's first criminal proceedings on state torture set for trial

The defence for a Syrian former colonel accused of torture is set to present its case in a trial on Thursday that German prosecutors said was the world's first criminal proceedings on state torture.

International criminal law allows the prosecution of possible war crimes committed by foreigners in other states.

The Syrian defendant would have the last word after the closing remarks of his two lawyers at Koblenz Higher Regional Court.

A verdict was expected on the 108th day of the trial on Jan. 13.

The defendant, known as Anwar R. under German privacy rules, was accused of crimes against humanity in 2011 and 2012 in the early phase of the Syrian civil war.

He was also alleged to have been responsible for the torture of at least 4,000 people in a prison of the General Intelligence Service in the Syrian capital Damascus.

At least 30 prisoners died in the process.

The defendant, a former colonel, denied the accusations at the beginning of the trial.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office recently requested life imprisonment, along with the finding of special gravity of guilt, which virtually rules out release from prison after 15 years.

The Koblenz trial was based on the principle of universal jurisdiction, which was enshrined in the German Code of Crimes against International Law in 2002.

This allowed for grave crimes like genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity to be tried in national courts if international courts were not an option.