Dutch police arrest a Syrian accused of sexual violence and other crimes in Syria’s civil war
By MIKE CORDER
Associated Press
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A Syrian refugee has been arrested in the Netherlands on suspicion of crimes against humanity, including sexual violence, while he was allegedly head of an interrogation team in a militia aligned to the government of President Bashar Assad. The arrest Friday of the 55-year-old man marks the first time Dutch authorities have charged a suspect with sexual violence as a crime against humanity. Dutch police allege that the suspect led the interrogation department of the National Defense Force in the western Syrian city of Salamiyah in 2013-14. The NDF is a paramilitary group fighting on the side of the Syrian government in the country’s civil war.