KOBLENZ, (Germany): A German court on Wednesday convicted a former Syrian intelligence service agent for complicity in crimes against humanity, in the first court case worldwide over state-sponsored torture by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

Eyad al-Gharib, 44, was found guilty over his role in helping to arrest at least 30 protesters and deliver them to the Al-Khatib detention centre in Damascus after a rally in Duma in autumn 2011.

Almost 10 years since the Arab Spring reached Syria on March 15, 2011, the judgement is the first in the world related to what judge Anne Kerber called “widespread and systematic repression” of protesters by the regime in Damascus.

The conviction was hailed as a “ray of hope” by Syrian Wassim Mukdad, a plaintiff who suffered torture in the Al-Khatib centre, also named “Branch 251”. “This is just the beginning and the day will come when Bashar al-Assad and his cronies, the army and intelligence generals are put on trial,” said Mukdad, who testified at the trial.

Gharib, a former low-ranking member of the intelligence service, hid his face from the cameras with a folder as the verdict was read out, arms folded and wearing a medical mask.

He is the first of two defendants on trial since April 23 to be convicted by the court in Koblenz, after judges decided to split the proceedings in two.

The second defendant, Anwar Raslan, 58, is accused directly of crimes against humanity, including overseeing the murder of 58 people and the torture of 4,000 others. Raslan’s trial is expected to last until at least the end of October.

The two men are being tried on the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows a foreign country to prosecute crimes against humanity, including war crimes and genocide, regardless of where they were committed.