Torture, murder in Assad prisons: Germany charges suspected ex-intelligence agent

German prosecutors have charged a suspected former member of the Syrian intelligence services with crimes against humanity, as well as with the torture and murder of dozens of prisoners held in a Damascus prison under Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Arrested in May, the defendant has been identified only as Fahad A., in accordance with German privacy laws.

He is suspected of having worked as a guard in a prison in the Syrian capital between late April 2011 and mid-April 2012, according to a statement released on Monday.

"There, he participated in more than 100 interrogations during which prisoners were subjected to severe physical violence, such as electric shocks or beatings with cables," the charge sheet says.

"On his superiors’ orders, the defendant also mistreated detainees at night, for example, by hanging them from the ceiling, dousing them with cold water, or forcing them to remain in uncomfortable positions. As a result of these abuses and the catastrophic prison conditions, at least 70 prisoners died."

German prosecutors invoked universal jurisdiction, a legal principle that allows them to prosecute individuals suspected of crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.

Under these laws, several people suspected of war crimes during the Syrian conflict have been arrested in recent years in Germany, which is home to about a million Syrians.