Prosecutors in Austria on Wednesday said they have charged two officials of Syria's former government for allegedly abusing detained civilians during the country's brutal civil war.
Austria hosts one of the biggest Syrian diasporas in Europe, and several similar cases related to crimes committed during the Syrian civil war have been heard in the country's courts, as well as in Germany, France and Sweden.
Vienna prosecutors charged the two ex-officials with several offenses, including causing grievous bodily harm and sexual coercion, they said in a statement.
One of the accused is also charged with committing torture, they added.
The two officials allegedly committed the crimes against civilians detained in the city of Raqqa from 2011 to 2013 to suppress protests against the government of Bashar al-Assad, who was president at the time.
The accused are a former brigadier general of Syria's intelligence service and the former head of the investigative department of the local criminal police with the rank of lieutenant colonel.
"To date, 21 victims have been identified," prosecutors said.
Both accused applied for asylum in Austria in 2015 and have been living in the country since then.
They face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.
Across Europe, Syrian refugees have drawn on the principle of universal jurisdiction to ensure suspected war criminals are held accountable.
Longtime Syrian ruler al-Assad was ousted last year.
Some 100,000 Syrians live in Austria.
AFP
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