Germany charges suspected former Syrian intelligence agent with murder in Assad jail

German prosecutors have charged a suspected former member of Syrian intelligence with crimes against humanity and the torture and murder of dozens of prisoners held in a Damascus prison under Bashar al-Assad, a statement said on Monday.

The accused, who was arrested in May and identified only as Fahad A. under German privacy rules, was suspected of working as a guard in a prison in the Syrian capital between the end of April 2011 and mid-April 2012, it said.

"There, he participated in well over 100 interrogations during which prisoners were subjected to severe physical abuse, such as electric shocks or beatings with cables," it said.

"On the orders of his superiors, the accused also abused inmates at night, for example by hanging them from the ceiling, dousing them with cold water, or forcing them to remain in uncomfortable positions. As a result of such mistreatment and the catastrophic prison conditions, at least 70 prisoners died."

German prosecutors have used universal jurisdiction laws that allow them to seek trials for suspects in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.

Based on these laws, several people suspected of war crimes during the Syrian conflict have been arrested in the last few years in Germany, which is home to around one million Syrians.