A former Syrian army general living in Sweden has been acquitted by a Swedish court of charges related to war crimes allegedly committed over a decade ago in his home country. Brig. Gen. Mohammed Hamo, accused of aiding and abetting crimes against international law, was acquitted after being charged in February. Prosecutors claimed that as head of the Ordnance Department of the Syrian Army's 11th Division, he supplied weapons used in war crimes in 2012.
Hamo, now 65 years old, is reported to be the highest-ranking military officer to face trial in a European court for international human rights violations in Syria. His background reveals that in June 2012, he was transferred to northern Syria, where he later left the army and fled to Turkey. Subsequently, he joined a group opposing the Syrian regime before seeking asylum in Sweden in 2015.
Despite being granted asylum, the Swedish Migration Board highlighted Hamo's past as a senior officer in an army linked to human rights violations. Hamo was arrested in December 2021 while residing in central Sweden but was released two days later due to insufficient evidence to justify his continued detention.
The civil war in Syria, which began in March 2011 as unrest between Assad's regime and opposition groups, has since escalated, resulting in the deaths of nearly half a million people and displacing half of the country's pre-war population of 23 million.
The trial at the Stockholm District Court commenced on April 15 and concluded on May 21, ultimately leading to Hamo's acquittal.
