Trial of man accused of war crimes in Afghanistan to start in the Netherlands

On Wednesday 16 February 2022, the criminal proceedings against a 76-year-old man, suspected of committing war crimes in Afghanistan in the 1980s, will start in The Hague. According to the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service, the defendant was the commander and head of Political Affairs in the Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul from 1983-1990. Under his leadership, (alleged) opponents of the then ruling Afghan regime were imprisoned for years without (fair) trial, under appalling conditions. The International Crimes Team of the Dutch police arrested the man in 2019 in Kerkrade, Limburg. The defendant lived there after he came to the Netherlands from Afghanistan in 2001 and later acquired Dutch nationality.