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A 72-year-old Syrian man was planning to fly from LA to Beirut earlier this month. He never boarded the plane. Instead, he was arrested at the airport on charges of immigration fraud. Syrian activists say he is a war criminal linked to atrocities of Bashar al-Assad's regime, and they hope his arrest is a turning point. NPR's Michele Kelemen has this report.
MICHELE KELEMEN, BYLINE: According to the criminal complaint, Samir Ousman al-Sheikh ran a notorious prison in Syria but lied on his U.S. immigration application when he denied any involvement in political killings and torture. Syrian American activist Mouaz Moustafa has been tracking him since 2022, when a Syrian refugee tipped him off that al-Sheikh had been living in LA for years.
MOUAZ MOUSTAFA: Samir Ousman al-Sheikh is the biggest war criminal from the Assad regime that's ever been arrested anywhere in Syria's history. And he was arrested - and I'm so proud to say this - in my country - in the United States of America.
KELEMEN: Moustafa, who runs the Syrian Emergency Task Force, believes the case will go beyond the alleged lies on immigration documents. He says al-Sheikh was a brigadier general in the intelligence apparatus who ran the Adra Prison on the outskirts of Damascus.
MOUSTAFA: In this prison, many people, including my own family, have spent time for no reason - including American citizens, some of which survived and came here and can tell you their story, some of which have not. He was the head of that gulag.
KELEMEN: He retired before an uprising against Bashar al-Assad's regime, but Moustafa says Assad brought him out of retirement to be the governor of Deir ez-Zor in 2011, at a time when authorities were killing and jailing protesters. A lawyer for al-Sheikh, Peter Hardin, says his client vehemently denies these, quote, "abhorrent accusations." He says al-Sheikh looks forward to clearing his name in court and returning home to Syria. The State Department's ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice, Beth Van Schaack, says Syrian activists helped the U.S. put this case together, with witnesses who can speak to al-Sheikh's personal involvement in abuses.
BETH VAN SCHAACK: The allegations against him at present predate the revolution, but we know that the Assad regime has had an industrial-grade torture system for decades, and he was a key part of that, so it's a big deal.
KELEMEN: She's hoping this case sends a message.
VAN SCHAACK: The arm of justice is long, and we're patient. And, you know, don't think you can sneak into the United States and build a beautiful life for yourself in Los Angeles. You know, eventually, it will catch up with you. And prosecutors are ready, and they have charges available to them to pursue justice here.
KELEMEN: Samir Ousman al-Sheikh has a preliminary hearing set for Friday in Los Angeles. Michele Kelemen, NPR News, the State Department. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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