Charges brought in Germany over alleged torture in Syrian prison

Germany's Federal Public Prosecutor's Office has brought charges against a man who is accused of being a former guard at a Syrian prison under the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

The man is "sufficiently suspected of murder, torture and deprivation of liberty as crimes against humanity," the authority said in a statement on Monday.

The charges were filed with the State Security Senate of the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz on December 10. The man was arrested in Pirmasens, a town in western Germany, in May. He has been in custody ever since.

He is alleged to have worked in the al-Khatib prison run by the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate in the capital Damascus from April 2011 to April 2012.

Investigators believe he was involved in well over 100 interrogations in which prisoners were severely physically abused, including with electric shocks and beatings with cables.

"On the orders of his superiors, the accused also tormented detainees at night, for example, by suspending them from the ceiling, dousing them with cold water, or forcing them to remain in uncomfortable positions," the statement said.

At least 70 prisoners died as a result of abuse and inhumane conditions at al-Khatib, it added.

Al-Assad's regime was toppled a year ago by opposition fighters after decades in power.