this is g.w. news live from berlin tonight a landmark verdict here in germany aimed at bringing justice to syria today a german court found a former syrian secret service agent guilty for his roles in atrocities committed by the assad regime is it just as delivered too little too late is also coming up progress in the fight against kobe one team got on the becomes the 1st country to receive vaccines under the u. when backed plan to insure low income nations get their fair share and they find

unlike any in european history german customs officer sees a record breaking 16 tons of cocaine worth several 1000000 euro coins that was hidden in 10 cans from pair of walk. i'm burnt off to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and to all of you around the world welcome it is the 1st verdict of its kind anywhere in the world never before has a member of syrian president bashar al assad's regime been convicted outside of the country for atrocities carried out in syria today a german court found a former agent of assad's secret police guilty of assisting in crimes against humanity. justice a decade on prosecutors say eyad al garrett was a former member of syria's secret service who arrested anti-government protesters

he took the demonstrators to a detention center where they were tortured a german court convicted algarve of being involved. is what's important is that we have a verdict that the assad government committed crimes against humanity in secret prisons this is the 1st such verdict weld wide and it sends an implicit alternate message that if these crimes can be investigated in germany george lakoff god the. al gharib fled to germany and his crimes came to light when he applied for asylum the judges reduced his sentence to just over 4 years because he testified in another trial that still ongoing. torture victim was seem ok helped bring the case to court he says this is only the beginning of. this is this as to this is the 1st step the road to justice is long and one of the goals is

to bring out assad and his in a circle before a court and it's the shuttle solved in the end get guys for them get this through getting. the syrian government denies that it touches prisoners the rules of universal jurisdiction allow german courts to try allegations of serious crimes in other countries if victims or the accused are actually in germany foreign minister heiko mouse welcomed the verdict just for. beast trials taking place outside syria are a glimmer of hope and a clear signal to the victims that justice must be done for them. they should destroy it either finds. out garrett's lawyer says he plans to appeal the sentence . will the. terms of the assad regime are hopeful that today's verdict will set a precedent for future cases d.w.

news spoke with one young syrian here in germany she has not seen her father since he disappeared 8 years ago witnesses say that he was seized by armed men from his home in damascus there are always fresh flowers next to alley mustafa's portrait he was forcibly disappeared in syria 8 years ago the few remaining photos of him i was daughter while finds most precious possessions just look at them a 1000 times trying to conjure up his presence the day it happened was i was away a mother then living in northern syria had meant to visit her husband in the mask because they hadn't seen each other in months. 15 minutes before she arrived she called them and said i need to 15 i'll be there in 15 so he said that i clean the house everything is perfect and i'm just waiting for you'll. see out just in minutes later she i have. she called him and he never responded

oh my. you know i mean. of the day i'm so put into neighbors armed man had come to take stuff away while father mother and sisters had to flee syria one week later and leave him behind they still don't know anything about what happened to him. when they actually survived by living on not getting canberra maybe i've physically survived somehow by you cannot just get used to the fact that you lost your job in one second you know you cannot just use to the fact that he was the fact that he just disappeared for no reason. why 1st father's one of 130000 people who have gone missing in syria. all right i'm joined now by fleischer a program coordinator for syria at the 100 through foundations b.

route office it's good to have you on the program with this this was the 1st time that a syrian official involved in abuses for the syrian government has been brought to justice how significant is this really. it is extremely significant ruling today because it is truly the 1st time that we have seen anyone who has parmalee been with this regime how to account and it has been extremely emotional day for a serious answer to that and also for everyone else was been watching this case i know that you've been working with families in prisoners of families of those who have disappeared in syria what do you think this verdict will mean to them. i think especially for the families of the missing enough the disappeared and the detained as one who just spoke right before our conversation now it is

an extremely difficult situation to be in because they miss their loved ones every single day you know when she speaks about her father and counting the days she truly misses him and misses his presence on a daily basis so it is extremely difficult to fathom how you know someone who was working in this machinery of torture and imprisonment and for his disappearance can get away so to speak with a sentence of 4 and a half years where they truly are suffering. and for a life time without knowing where their loved ones are so it is extremely difficult . to fathom it emotionally even though i believe that many feel like this is the 1st step towards justice and i have heard this many times today but at the same time having a family member missing is a daily. daily difficult thing to endure it's difficult we can only imagine what

that must be like when we consider how many trustees have been committed in the last 10 years in the name of the assad regime but you know this is just one person one trial do you think that we're going to see more trials like this or are we just going to have this one drop in the ocean. i absolutely believe that it's a 1st step i mean this is the you know the cases had been severed so we still have an ongoing case and copeland's. this was the 1st verdict that was spoken but it is not the end of the trial for another accused and i believe it's also an important step to fight against impunity and syria in front of european courts and to try to understand how universal jurisdiction can be utilized in order to bring some type of justice syrians of course this cannot solve the larger political

questions we also need to work on that level still but i do believe that it's really important 1st step and it will be the 1st step and the process of many on the flusher with 100 groups foundation in beirut thank you thank you so much and another high profile trial here in germany another guilty verdict this time a notorious iraqi preacher believed to be so-called islamic states german leader. was accused of radical watch you know recruiting young people to fight for the terrorist group he's now been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. after 3 years in the dark the verdict was handed down guilty of belonging to a foreign terrorist organization helping to plan subversive violent acts and financing terrorism. find out of the law was known as the leading

authority in the fundamentalist salafist scene and he and the other defendants primed young men theologically and ideologically for missions for the islamic states they arranged contacts with smugglers planned travel routes and gave the men money to leave the country and wanted men to go for the order that i think if you. this is the mosque in hilda's heim where i was preached holy war he was also known as the preacher without a face for his online videos where he had his back to the camera. among those he radicalized from the mosque were german twin brothers who blew themselves up in a suicide attack in iraq in 2015 and a teenager convicted of bombing a sikh temple in germany in 2016. he also had links to a mery who mounted a deadly terrorist attack on a christmas market in berlin the same year. abu alaa was arrested in november 26th teen investigators had him under surveillance for

a long time. the preacher chose to remain silent during the lengthy trial he was sentenced to 10 and a half years in prison. 3 co-defendants were handed down sentences ranging from 4 to 8 years. but here are the other stories that are making headlines this hour venezuela is expelling the european union's on boy she has been given 72 hours to leave in protest of new sanctions that have been slapped on but it's wayland's for undermining democracy and human rights violations the european union has called on caracas to reverse the expulsion destroyed families in ecuador are waiting to find out whether their relatives were among the $79.00 inmates killed in prison riot the violence erupted in jails in 3 cities coordinated fights appear to have broken out as weibo gains battle for control of the detention centers. hungary has become the 1st country in the european union to use

a covert 19 banks he developed in china some in hungary remain skeptical about the signing of foreign bank scene and russia's sputnik v. shot which is also available in hungary the government has been sharply critical of the slow role of vaccinations in the european you. gonna has become the 1st country to receive vaccines from kovacs says a global plan aimed at ensuring lower income nations have fair access to cohabit 1000 shots the un back program aims to deliver 2000000000 doses around the world this year. the arrival of the kovacs vaccines brings the world one step closer to a worldwide solution for a global pandemic a plane carrying 600000 doses of the astra zeneca vaccine developed in the u.k. and produced in india touched down in the capital. today where the

international airport in crown in ghana and this is really a historic moment today we are very happy to receive the present batch of most common 1000 vaccines through the call that affinity. chops will go to fire is hot spots and essential workers. won't just need more vaccines many gun a.n.c. remain unsure that the inoculation is safe i don't have much information about and a vaccine is in terms of policy but i. guess i always know about that i mean well i would want to get. people to see why not maybe if someone is decades before and i see that it's good i can take it now for me they can it's for conduit of the 200000000 doses administered so far the vast majority have been in the developed world kovacs

organizers say fair a vaccine distribution is in the interest of rich countries to. up until now there has not been a tremendous amount of vaccines in developing countries there have been some countries that have gotten small amounts of doses through bilateral deals and donations but there hasn't been a systematic coverage of vaccine doses and that is what we need to change we need to make sure that every single country gets doses because we are only safe if everyone is safe. capping the spread of the virus in the developing world reduces the risk of new variants that can render the vaccines less effective in the race against time helping others helps everyone stay ahead of the pandemic. correspondent isaac is on the story for us in our room we asked him for more information on the government plan what officials now hope to do is to stop

vaccination from next week which is much too specifically now vaccination would take place in hotspots areas places where of infection has been increasing their rates has been increasing over the last 2 months the hope is that passes will be vaccinated especially health which has really just lead us. lawmakers among others will give hope to others that is the need for them to take a vaccine to help contain the spread of the virus many people have a mixed feeling. in education i started to a shut out people know that a vaccine is safe for them to take to help gonna win the battle against the 1000 pandemic that was. reporting from ghana in the 1st months of the pandemic germany was a role model in managing the virus but a year on germany is struggling the banks the nation remains sluggish and while

other nations approved rapid home test months ago german still have to see a doctor when they get tested and that's now set to change with officials approving 3 different home testing kits still the health minister was on the defensive today facing criticism for moving too slowly people here in germany are longing for return to the normality they knew a year ago before the pandemic began before the lockdowns health minister him as under pressure to show the way forward but he has to reconcile the risk posed by the new variance with the freedom people want. we are a country looking for a balance between the best possible protection from infections but also life and freedom and no malice as much as is possible. this widespread rapid testing will be at the heart of the government's reopening strategy soon germany is lagging behind neighbors like austria where they are already making frequent tests available for

all. germany's vaccine roll out is also on go slow. some federal states reacting with a patchwork of strategies for vaccinations how and when to return to school even the reopening of here some. in parliament pointed to germany's federal structure as partly responsible for the problems. and i don't know how each of the 16 regions is going to allow the hairdresser's to reopen. the 20 responsibility of the federal and the regional governments for the pandemic response has proved complicated and the next hurdle is coming up next week when the state leaders and chancellor merkel have to agree on a further easing of lockdown measures. well the mass testing plan for germany has already been rolled out in austria w.'s funny for char reports tonight from vienna where rapid antigen tests are freely available and even compulsory for students the

opera house is one of vienna's landmarks but unfortunately for the own going pandemic the locals are no longer coming here to enjoy a performance what they want is a rapid and teaching test and this is the example of the spruce over there which by the way used to be a traditional viennese food stand. i need to get tested to. thank you very much well needless to say this was very uncomfortable but very quick to within minutes i will have my result this cost me sooty 9 euros but there are hundreds of pharmacy and all 3 are tested for free but there you will need to wait a bit longer for the results and there are a lot of people here who are willing to get tested to get the squeak and tests done

in order to go to the hairdresser or to go to school because there are schools here in austria it's required twice a week to present such a test a negative called the test result of course to be able to participate at school currently $1000000.00 tests are carried out each week in austria one of the highest rates in the world has to governments and the government hoops the more acceptable because to get tested the sooner the economy will be able to get back and to reopen. the char they're getting tested for code 19 on the streets of vienna a new report is calling for u.n. sanctions against sri lanka's former top generals for war crimes during the country's civil war for almost 3 decades tamil tiger separatists fault for an independent state for the ethnic tommo minority where the 100000 people were killed in the war many of them tamil civilians thousands more disappear. this

is the number of days these mothers have been protesting for 4 years they've stood on the side of the road in the town of junia in the north of sri lanka. the women want to know where their children and husbands are they've been missing since the end of the civil war in 2009. jail juanita poli has also been here every day for 4 years she's looking for her daughter and that the learn all about it given that we need each other my suffering is also felt by these other mothers because of that i keep on functioning not only for my child but for only children and husbands who went missing we have to find out what happened to our children that all these mothers believe that their children and loved ones will return they can't lose their hope. 52 year old says she recognized her daughter in this photo from 2015 it apparently shows the girl standing next to form a sri lankan president pallisers cena. signifies a spurt had to initiate their mother's protest. the family belongs to the tamil

minority during the last days of the civil war they were forced to leave their home and were taken to a camp run by sri lanka's secret service and interrogators on the way to on the ticker is a polite says her daughter was kidnapped by whom is unclear. shortly before the end of a civil war in 2009 the sri lankan army kind tamil territory the soldiers were looking for fighters from the tamil tiger liberation organization or l.t.d. who were fighting for independence according to the un both warring parties committed serious war crimes up to 15000 tamils are officially messick that the united nations believes the number to be much higher. it has been impossible for this family to find peace since their eldest child disappeared they have been to the police time and again and even called on the un refugee agency and the un human rights commission to get involved but in vain but

a good lot about them do about it it's very difficult now that my wife stays in london for me at the protest site but i'm with her and thought all the time but then when i keep telling my wife to bring out daughter home. for the. orderly i'm convinced that my daughter is still a life or leader a good. protest spicer and has tamils on growing. thousands took to the streets for 3 days in early february demanding the government clarify what happened to the countless missing so long because current president got a biologic hoxha declared all missing persons to see east and 2020 including the daughter of giovanni to casa poli. rajapakse that was the defense minister during the civil war the un commission f a human rights lays the blame for alleged atrocities committed during that war on rajapaksa current army chief. the women simply want to know what happened to their children so far no sri lankan government has offered to

help them. or police and the german border city of hamburg have seized 16 tons of cocaine that is the most ever failed here in europe the cocaine was hidden in metal canisters shipped from paraguayan as part of the same investigation 7 tons of cocaine were also seized in antwerp belgium police have arrested a 28 year old man suspected of importing the drugs. these canisters imported from pirate why were supposed to contain putty filler but instead they're stuffed with 16 tons of cocaine it would have sold for as much as 3500000000 euros that's a big. we were very surprised by the amount to have to reopen the kind of stairs we multiplied the number of canisters by 9 kilos and came up with this unimaginable amount of 16 tons. another 7 tons were intercepted in the belgian

port city of antwerp the owner of an import company in the netherlands has been arrested the find is the largest amount of cocaine that has ever been seized in europe politicians believe it's just the tip of the iceberg. billions can be made in the cocaine trade these illegal funds can easily flow into legitimate areas of the economy causing untold damage and. organized crime only attracts the attention of politicians when people are lying dead on the streets or when there is campaigns against it normally it's under the radar and that makes it even more dangerous. experts are calling on politicians to hold a summit on drugs the security problem is huge and police and customs are poorly equipped to deal with that. news now women's international football and the netherlands have beaten germany by a score of 21. jackie. opened the scoring for the dutch on 16 minutes

then just before have to. equalize for germany but. funded netted the winner for the netherlands with a goal. clarissa shields has achieved stellar success as a boxer as an amateur she won 2 olympic gold medals and now she's the undisputed women's middleweight world champion winning all 4 of the main belts but she earns far less than male boxers and she's fighting to change that here is the w.p.s. i'll be out enter a name w.b.c. not all right sure going to the world trying to clear the message there was 3 feet on. the road cirrus 2 2 sr her wrong the way the recess shields is fighting a battle outside the ring as well she wants women to box 123 minute rounds just

like men women's shorter fight times are often cited as the reason they're paid far less. people say you know what michigan may say because you don't buy the same money. but i wish people would realize that we would build rules in place. that mean. but. it's just not like. it is the big one with boxing as a whole you know we don't have a knockout because we don't have enough time to get that knockout in people judge our record offer that your winner by unanimous decision she is still undefeated anstead w.b.'s i.b.m. w.b.c. middleware chairman of the road to your arms serve. i'm not. predicting what actually me restate you know what we ought i never bought . we can all we all know what we're standing up for so no need to try to predict

the women you're not going to protect me women like clarissa shields typically are in less than 10 percent as much as a similarly accomplished male boxer is she's not going to stop fighting for equal pay and equal opportunity in the sports where she's reached the pinnacle. yeah she's serious you're watching e.w. news live from berlin after a short break i'll be back to take you through the day and stick around the right back.

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but it's not just the animals at all suffering it's the environment we might be on a journey to find ways out of the machine if you want to know how one place the priest and the conscious changed the things that listen to our podcast on i mean. in the early days of syria's civil war he was a secret police officer whose job arrest protestors against president bashar al assad and send them to an interrogation center a place where questioning and torture went hand in hand today a german court sentenced yet i'll go to you to 4 years in prison the 1st syrian convicted of crimes against humanity.