It's here. The verdict in the case of Anwar R.

It took almost two years and more than 100 hearings with 80 witnesses who appeared in court. The worldwide first criminal trial against former Syrian regime officials was long and complex, with ups and downs, praise and criticism. And at the end of all this, Anwar R. was handed a life sentence for his co-perpetration of murder, torture, sexualized violence and rape, and severe deprivation of liberty as a crime against humanity.  

In today’s final episode of this podcast we take you along on our last trip to Koblenz, to the courtroom, to the judgment. 

We want to thank everyone who spoke to us in Koblenz, and everyone who has spoken to us throughout the production of this podcast. There wouldn’t have been a podcast without your stories, expertise and insight. 

We could not have made our podcast without financial support. We want to thank all our individual donors from the early months of the project, everyone that participated in the crowdfunding campaign, and the institutional support from Förderfonds Demokratie, UMAM Documentation & Research, medico international, and IFA’s Zivik Funding Programme.

If you can’t get enough of our podcast, do visit the website, branch251podcast.com. Here you’ll find an archive of all our episodes, with their transcripts. Thank you for listening.

A special thanks to Saleem Salameh, who provided the English overdub in this episode.

ECCHR trial reports

Syria Justice and Accountability Centre's monitoring of the trial

Logo design by laurenshebly.nl -- Photo by James Lawler Duggan/AFP/Getty Images.

Music by Kevin McLeod and via Blue Dot Sessions.