A federal jury in Los Angeles on Monday convicted former Syrian prison official Samir Ousman Alsheikh of perpetrating torture and immigration fraud.
The 73-year-old, who served under the ousted government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit torture and three counts of torture of prisoners during his time as a prison official at Adra Prison in Damascus, Syria.
Mr Alsheikh was also convicted of lying to the U.S.S. immigration authorities about denying crimes in Damascus, unlawfully securing a green card and attempting to naturalise as a U.S. citizen.
A statement by the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday stated that evidence presented during the trial showed that Mr Alsheikh inflicted, as well as ordered subordinates to inflict severe physical and mental pain on prisoners.
It said the convict ordered prisoners to be sent to a section of the prison known as Wing 13, where they were held in tiny isolation cells and tortured.
The department said guards under the direction of Mr Alsheikh used “manacles to suspend prisoners by their wrists from pipes on the ceiling and then beat them with fists or cables while suspended for extended periods of time”.
“Witnesses also testified that they were placed on a torture device known as the ‘magic carpet’ or ‘flying carpet’, which consisted of two large wooden panels with hinges in the middle,” the statement said. “One victim recalled that Alsheikh himself stomped on the magic carpet with his foot. One victim testified that as part of his punishment for writing a letter of support to a political prisoner, he was subjected to the magic carpet and then forced to wear a red jumpsuit solely assigned to those designated for execution.”
The court also found the defendant guilty of concealing the torture and violence he ordered and committed at Adra prison, as well as misrepresented facts about his personality in his visa application to the United States and in his bid to become a legal permanent resident.
“Alsheikh faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each of the three torture counts and the count of conspiracy to commit torture; he faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for each of the immigration and attempted naturalisation fraud charges,” the statement said. “He will remain in U.S. custody pending his sentencing at a date to be determined by the Court.”
Mr Alsheikh’s legal counsel, however, expressed disappointment in the verdict, noting that the defendant “will pursue all appellate and post-trial relief”.
Mr Alsheikh’s attorney, Nina Marino, in her closing argument, claimed that the defendant was being made a scapegoat for the fall of the Assad regime.
“History cannot be rewritten in this court of law. He is being made a scapegoat for the regime while the true criminals are running free,” Ms Marino said.
