Ex-Assad official charged in California for ‘flying carpet’ torture at Syrian prison

Samir Ousman Sheikh, left, was appointed governor of the province of Deir Ez-Zour in Syria in 2011 by Syrian President Bashar Assad, right. Samir Ousman Sheikh, former head of the Damascus Central Prison, was personally involved in torturing political dissidents to deter opposition to the regime of then-Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to the Justice Department. “Our country will not be a safe harbor for those accused of committing atrocities abroad.” Nina Marino, an attorney representing Sheikh, said her client “vehemently denies these politically motivated and false accusations.” “In filing these false charges, this Justice Department has chosen to allocate precious government resources towards the prosecution of a foreign national for alleged crimes that occurred in a foreign country against non-American citizens, and in so doing, diverts those same resources that could be used to protect American citizens from criminal conduct occurring in America,” Marino wrote in a statement. The indictment detailed the torture of several prisoners, including one identified by the initials K.A.M., whose body Sheikh, prison officials and prison guards allegedly contorted on the “flying carpet” device. According to the Justice Department, Sheikh allegedly held several positions in the Syrian police and the Syrian state security apparatus, was associated with the Syrian Ba’ath Party that ruled Syria and was appointed governor of the province of Deir Ez-Zour by then-Syrian President Assad in 2011.