Loudspeakers boomed with the verdict in Arabic at 10am, 13 January 2022: a life sentence for Anwar R., a former colonel in the Syrian General Security Service and head of the Investigation Unit at military intelligence facility Branch 251, also known as Al-Khatib. Anwar R., a 58-year-old ex-intelligence officer, came to Germany in 2014 with his family and sought refuge after defecting from the Syrian regime in 2012 and actively participating in the opposition. Live footage from court on the day of the verdict showed him in handcuffs, and with a strange smile on his face, following his indictme…