A German court on Monday handed a life sentence to a Syrian doctor who tortured opponents of former ruler Bashar al-Assad during the country's brutal civil war.

The higher regional court in Frankfurt found Alaa Mousa, 40, guilty of crimes against humanity, committed while working as a doctor at military hospitals in Homs and Damascus between 2011 and 2012.

Mousa's actions were "part of a brutal reaction by Assad's dictatorial, unjust regime", presiding judge Christoph Koller said as he read out the verdict.

Germany has tried several Assad supporters under the legal principle of "universal jurisdiction", which allows for serious crimes to be prosecuted even if they were committed in a different country.

Syria's civil war erupted in 2011 after Assad's repression of anti-government protests, sparking a spiralling conflict that drew in regional actors and cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

Mousa had "wanted to punish actual or suspected opponents of the regime, while at the........

© Al Monitor