Vienna: On Friday, five former Austrian officials went on trial in Vienna for allegedly granting asylum to a suspected Syrian war criminal at Israel's Mossad's request.
The five are charged with abusing their power by bringing former Syrian general Khaled Halabi to Austria in 2015 and setting up asylum for him. One former official of the asylum agency and four former intelligence personnel.
From 2009 to 2013, Halabi oversaw the Syrian General Intelligence Directorate in Raqqa. Halabi fled to France after rebel forces seized Raqqa in 2013 and initially requested asylum there.
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International human rights organisations claim that Halabi is partly to blame for the documented torture that took place in Syrian facilities under Bashar Assad.
Halabi is also the subject of criminal investigations by Austrian authorities, but no charges have been brought against him. Halabi’s lawyer, Timo Gerersdorfer, told The Associated Press that Halabi is cooperating fully with Austrian authorities, and that his client is not guilty.
"With the aid of the Free Syrian Army, he left Syria. He claimed that if he had supported the Assad regime, he would have remained in Syria.
Halabi, a member of the Druze minority in Syria, was reportedly recruited by the Mossad as an informant, according to a Der Spiegel and Der Standard investigation. The office of the Israeli prime minister declined to comment.
The former intelligence agents are charged with violating their obligations to divulge information regarding Halabi's whereabouts and identity, particularly after a meeting in 2016 at the Austrian Justice Ministry.
Representatives of the Commission for International Justice and Accountability revealed at that meeting that Halabi was under suspicion for involvement in possible war crimes in Syria and that France had opened an investigation into him for alleged "systematic torture."
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According to the prosecutor, Ursula Schmudermayer, Austrian intelligence officials visited Tel Aviv in March 2015 to meet with Mossad agents. According to her, the Israeli agents told the Austrians that the Syrian general was in France but that "cooperation with France is not working as they had envisioned" and that they needed Austria to "step in."
The prosecutor claimed that the Mossad paid 5,000 euros ($5,500) per month to help harbour Halabi in Austria with the intention of continuing to question him there.
According to the indictment, Martin W. signed a "cooperation agreement with a foreign partner intelligence service" on May 6, 2015, while serving as a senior agent in Austria's domestic intelligence organisation, the BVT.
According to the indictment, the agreement included information on how to transport Halabi from France to Austria and assist him with his asylum application.
Due to health reasons, Martin W. was not present when the trial began on Friday, but the others were. They didn't testify, but they did respond to brief procedural questions.
Because the cooperation agreement with the Mossad was marked as "strictly confidential," prohibiting the agents from discussing the operation with other state agencies, their attorneys claimed that the defendants acted legally.
Additionally, they claimed that the cooperation agreement with Israeli intelligence allowed Austria to obtain information that was otherwise impossible to obtain. At the time, Europe had to deal with the influx of numerous Syrian refugees as well as a growing terrorist threat.
Gerald W. a former asylum official, was accused by the prosecution of manipulating the asylum process to allow Halabi to apply for asylum in Austria despite having already done so in France.
Gerald W. acted in good faith, according to his attorney, by believing that Halabi was in danger in France. The trial is expected to last until the following Friday. It was unclear when the court might hand down judgements at the time. According to Austrian law, the defendants can only be identified in part.
