Former Assad regime prison chief sentenced to 60 years in U.S. for torture
A former Syrian prison chief under the Assad regime has been sentenced to 60 years in a U.S. prison for ordering and participating in the torture of detainees and lying to immigration officials, according to the Justice Department.
Samir Ousman Alsheikh, 74, was sentenced on Thursday after a jury convicted him in March of conspiracy to commit torture, three counts of torture, visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud, according to the DOJ.
The former prison warden and provincial governor headed Adra Prison, also known as Damascus Central Prison, outside Syria’s capital from approximately 2005 to 2008. Prosecutors said he used torture to punish prisoners, including those who refused to harm political detainees or expressed support for them.
Two prisoners were sent to an underground section known as Wing 13 after refusing his orders to harm political prisoners. A third was sent there after guards intercepted a letter expressing support for a political detainee, according to evidence presented at trial.
Alsheikh ordered the three prisoners held in tiny cells and tortured. The victims testified about what happened to them and the abuse they saw and heard other prisoners endure.
They were strapped to a hinged wooden device called the “Flying Carpet,” which forcibly folded their bodies in half at the waist. Other methods included shackling prisoners to the ceiling for hours or days and beating them while they were immobilized inside tires.
Prisoners were also confined in cramped, filthy cells that were cold, wet and infested with insects and other vermin.
Alsheikh entered the United States in 2020 after lying about his past. Trial evidence showed he concealed his background from immigration authorities to obtain a green card and again when applying for U.S. citizenship.
He has been in custody since his arrest in July 2024.
“Samir Alsheikh is the highest-ranking former member of the Assad regime to be tried and convicted in person outside of Syria,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva. “He now answers to the United States justice system.”
Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI investigated the case with support from their human rights units. German federal police helped U.S. investigators meet with witnesses in Germany.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
