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

A federal grand jury in Los Angeles this week charged a former Syrian military official with several counts of torture allegedly committed at a prison he oversaw for years.

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.

Authorities first arrested 72-year-old Sheikh on July 10 at Los Angeles International Airport and the following month he was indicted on immigration fraud charges. This week's indictment adds three counts of torture and one count of conspiracy to commit torture.

Prosecutors say Sheikh personally carried out some of the violence, which allegedly involved beatings and subjecting prisoners to a wooden device known as the "flying carpet," which forcibly folded them in half and resulted in one victim suffering a fractured spine.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-assad-official-charged-california-001547911.html