ERBIL () - A former Syrian prison chief convicted of torturing detainees during the rule of former President Bashar Assad has been sentenced to 60 years in a US federal prison, in a case prosecutors described as a rare instance of an Assad-era official being held personally accountable outside Syria.
Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 74, was sentenced Thursday by US District Judge Hernán D. Vera in Los Angeles after a federal jury convicted him in March on six counts, including conspiracy to commit torture, three torture charges and immigration-related fraud.
Associated Press journalists Christopher Weber and Sudhin Thanawala reported that Vera described Alsheikh's conduct as extraordinarily brutal before imposing the sentence. A separate hearing on financial restitution for victims is expected in the coming months.
Alsheikh's lawyers said they would appeal.
Alsheikh headed Adra Prison, also known as Damascus Central Prison, from approximately 2005 to 2008.
Prosecutors said he used his authority to suppress political dissent and sent selected detainees to a notorious section of the prison where they were placed in small isolation cells and subjected to severe physical abuse.
During the trial, three survivors testified about being beaten while suspended from ceiling pipes and tortured with a device that forced their bodies into painful positions. One witness testified that Alsheikh personally participated in the abuse.
The US Justice Department said trial evidence established that Alsheikh both ordered and took part in torture while running the prison.
Human rights organizations and United Nations investigators have for years documented allegations of widespread arbitrary detention, torture and deaths in Syrian government detention facilities during Assad's rule.
Alsheikh, however, disputed the characterization of his role.
Speaking through an interpreter before sentencing, he told the court that he had tried to combat corruption and improve conditions at Adra. He said he had not been an Assad loyalist and described himself as an "employee"of the state.
His son, Rami Alsheikh, also addressed the court, saying the allegations were difficult for the family to reconcile with the person they knew.
Alsheikh entered the United States in 2020 and later sought American citizenship.
Federal prosecutors said he concealed his role in the torture of prisoners when dealing with US immigration authorities, allowing him to fraudulently obtain permanent residency and later attempt to naturalize.
He was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in July 2024 and has remained in federal custody since then.
The Justice Department said Alsheikh is the highest-ranking former Assad government official to have been tried and convicted in person outside Syria.
First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said after the sentencing that people responsible for such abuses should not be able to find refuge in the United States, expressing hope that the judgment would provide some measure of closure for victims.
Prosecutors had sought at least 80 years in prison. Defense attorneys Nina Marino and Collin Cate requested five years, citing Alsheikh's age and what they described as serious medical and cognitive conditions. They also said he was prepared to be deported to Syria.
The investigation began in part with assistance from the US-based Syrian Emergency Task Force.
According to AP, a former Syrian detainee working with the opposition organization learned in 2022 from a refugee that Alsheikh was living in the United States. The group contacted federal authorities and subsequently assisted investigators.
Executive Director Mouaz Moustafa said accountability for officials accused of Assad-era abuses was necessary for Syria's future.
Assad was ousted in December 2024 after a rebel offensive brought his government and the country's 14-year civil war to an end. Syria has since faced further bouts of violence while its new authorities pursue cases involving abuses committed both under the former government and during subsequent unrest.
For Alsheikh, Thursday's sentence means the US proceedings have moved from an unprecedented torture prosecution to a decades-long prison term, though the defense's planned appeal means the legal process is not yet concluded.
