Dutch authorities have arrested a 34-year-old Syrian asylum seeker accused of war crimes. This is the first arrest in the Netherlands of a person suspected of war crimes. An unnamed man was charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes for allegedly forcibly arresting a civilian in 2013 and handing him over to the Syrian authorities, who tortured him.

Dutch prosecutors said: “The man was a member of the Al-Quds Brigade, a group composed mainly of Palestinian militants.”

The accused moved to the Netherlands in 2020, asked for asylum and settled in the small town of Kerkrade, and the Dutch police received a number of reports of his involvement with the Al-Quds Brigade, a group they consider a criminal organization. , and the accused will appear in court at the first hearing on Friday. This is the fifth war crimes case in the Netherlands related to the conflict in Syria.

Notably, under international jurisdiction, the Netherlands can prosecute certain crimes even if they were committed outside its territory. Last year, a court in The Hague found another Syrian asylum seeker, Ahmed, guilty of war crimes by executing a Syrian army soldier, and the crime was caught on video.