AUSTRIA SUPREME COURT OVERTURNS JUDGMENT FOR WAR CRIMES IN SYRIA Name withheld Context Ongoing proceedings in Austria for war crimes committed between 2013 and 2014 in Syria Suspect Palestinian national, former member of the Farouq Brigades Country of residence of suspect Austria Charges Terrorist offences, war crimes of murder, and violations of the 1949 Geneva Conventions Developments in 2018 these murders were allegedly intended to intimidate the population, to force the Syrian army to leave the contested area, and to threaten or destroy the political, constitutional, economic or social structures of the Syrian state. Procedure The accused sought asylum in Austria in May 2015. He was subsequently reported to the authorities by refugees, whom he had told that he belonged to the Farouq Brigades and that he had fought against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The trial opened in February 2017 but was adjourned shortly thereafter on medical grounds after the accused collapsed in court. On 10 May 2017, the accused was found guilty on 20 charges of murder as a war crime and sentenced to life imprisonment by a jury in Innsbruck. The Defense appealed the conviction, arguing that the court failed to call key witnesses who could testify to the fact that the defendant had left Syria for Turkey in summer 2013, and that he had not taken part in hostilities from January 2013 until his departure. On 12 December 2017, the Supreme Court of Justice overturned the conviction on grounds that the failure to question these witnesses had violated the rights of the defendant, and remanded the case back to the regional court. A retrial was scheduled to begin on 10 December 2018 before the Regional Court of Innsbruck. Current status Conviction overturned; retrial ongoing Facts The accused is alleged to have executed at least 20 unarmed and injured Syrian government soldiers in Al Khalidiya and Homs between 2013 and 2014. According to the charges, 16