German prosecutors said on Wednesday the man, identified as Anwar R., and one other Syrian citizen had been arrested on suspicion of crimes including torture of prisoners during their work for Syria’s intelligence service. One of our witnesses has described Branch 251 as the most effective, dangerous and secretive branch, and responsible for 98 percent of the violence committed. Wiley told Reuters in 2014 that CIJA was preparing prosecution-ready dossiers, despite not having a court that would hear its cases. Jelacic said CIJA was now providing support to 13 countries, and was getting requests for assistance “almost on a daily basis”. It answered close to 500 requests from law enforcement last year, with information pertaining to Islamic State as well as Syrian government officials.

Source: Egypt Independent February 14, 2019 14:37 UTC