Swiss refer Syrian president’s uncle to trial for alleged war crimes over 4 decades ago

GENEVA (AP) — Swiss federal prosecutors say they have referred former Syrian Vice President Rifaat Assad, the uncle of the war-battered country’s current president, for trial on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for allegedly ordering murder and torture more than four decades ago. The attorney general’s office says Assad is accused of directing the crimes in Syria in February 1982. At the time, he was the commander of defense brigades that carried out an attack in the city of Hama during a conflict between the military and the Islamist opposition.