VIENNA — An Austrian court in Vienna found former Syrian intelligence chief Khaled al-Halabi guilty of torture, sexual assault, aggravated coercion, and inflicting serious bodily harm. He received a sentence of eight years in prison.

Al-Halabi served as head of Syria's General Intelligence Directorate in Raqqa from 2011 to 2013. He and Moussab Abou R. applied for asylum in Austria in 2015. Both al-Halabi and Abou R. pleaded not guilty to the charges.

During the trial, al-Halabi testified that he had not ordered or witnessed any torture at his place of work. He also stated that as a member of the Druze minority, he had been obliged to follow orders. Prosecutors claimed that al-Halabi received direct instructions from the Damascus government and used violence systematically with standardized torture methods. They stated the actions were intended to "suppress the protest movement against the regime at the time and to intimidate the population."

More than a dozen victims testified during the court proceedings. Victims recounted being stripped naked, beaten, subjected to electric shocks, or doused in hot and cold water. One victim testified that he was hit on the soles of his feet with electric cables. That victim stated, "I'm still afraid to this day," while describing an interrogation by al-Halabi.

Al-Halabi denied knowledge of violence against people held in his agency's building. The presiding judge, addressing al-Halabi, stated, "Of course you were actively aware," referring to beatings of new arrivals immediately after their arrest. Al-Halabi fled Raqqa in 2013 when the Free Syrian Army gained control of the city. He stated he helped facilitate the Free Syrian Army's takeover of Raqqa and fled the next day.