06/07/2026
🚨CIJA welcomes the conviction of Khaled Al-Halabi who was sentenced to 8 years in prison by the Vienna Regional Criminal Court, after evading justice since 2015.
Al-Halabi was convicted of torture, serious bodily harm, aggravated coercion and sexual assault, committed as the head of the General Intelligence Branch 335 in Raqqa (2011–2013). Musab Abu Rukbah, former head of investigations at Raqqa criminal police, was also convicted of serious bodily harm, aggravated coercion, and sexual coercion. Both men were ordered to pay €130,000 in compensation to victims.
The Commission for International Justice and Accountability testified in the trial, having located Al-Halabi in Vienna in 2015, alerted Austrian authorities, and provided detailed dossiers, analysis, and evidence.
The case against the two men, who have been living in Austria since 2015, was one of the first that the country has brought under the principle of universal jurisdiction.