Many of Bashar al-Assad’s thugs, known as shabiha, have fled the war-torn country to Europe, either escaping the consequences of their inhuman practices, or going undercover by taking advantage of the refugee crisis and profiting from it.
Ibrahim Haider is one such militiaman, a member of the Air Force Intelligence, who a few days ago, left Syria for Sweden after erasing all references and evidence indicating his support of Assad and all his military dress photos from his Facebook page.
According to activist Maryam Abdullah (pseudonym), Haider, who is accused of theft, kidnapping and liquidation, left from Damascus International Airport on Feb. 27, 2020, to join his wife, Rasha Baria, who has been living in Sweden with her children for three years. The activist confirmed that Haider is responsible for the kidnapping and killing of her two brothers who were abducted in Damascus, back in 2012.
Their family had received calls from the kidnappers, demanding that they pay a ransom, and made contact with a person affiliated with the regime who told them to contact Ibrahim Haider. From the information and the details Haider provided the family with, they became certain that he was the one holding them. She added that he asked her family for 10 million Syrian pounds in exchange for their release. However, after they have given him a million pounds as an advance payment, he no longer answered their calls. Later a person who had been detained with her brothers confirmed their killing under torture in Sednaya prison in 2014.
The source revealed that Haidar deleted all his photos and everything related to his work in Syria since January 2013, so as not to be discovered in Europe. Other members of his family also worked with the shabiha including his brother and his brothers-in-law, one of whom is still working with the Jibril group in Yarmouk camp.
The source, a human rights activist in Sweden, said that many criminals hide among asylum seekers, but that the Swedish police is working to identify and arrest them. The Swedish Migration Agency has signed an agreement with the Bureau of Prosecution and the police to strengthen operational cooperation between the three agencies, in order to facilitate the arrest of suspects involved in war crimes, by speeding up the exchange of information between the agencies.
Based on this agreement, Sweden issued a decision to cancel the asylum of Mohammed al-Abdullah, who was accused of belonging to the shabiha and was convicted by a Swedish court after a picture of him in a military uniform carrying a weapon and stepping on the bodies of dead civilians was uncovered.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
