British doctor Abbas Khan unlawfully killed in Syrian jail

British doctor Abbas Khan, who died in a Syrian regime prison last year, was unlawfully killed, a UK inquest jury has ruled.

The 32-year-old orthopedic surgeon from Streatham, south London, who died in December, had travelled to Syria on a humanitarian mission when he fell into the hands of the Syrian regime in Aleppo.

Bashar Al-Assad’s regime claimed that the father-of-two had taken his own life and said he was found hanged in his own cell, but Khan's family alleged he had been murdered by the regime.

Speaking to press outside the court in London, Khan’s brother, Shahnawaz Khan, said on Monday that the verdict was a “vindication” for the family. 

The jury heard that there was no evidence that the doctor had travelled to Syria in order to fight. 

Khan's mother, Fatima Khan, said that her son was “angelic” and had gone to Syria to help people.

Michael Mansfield, the lawyer for the Khan family, said that the case should go to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. 

The jury at the Royal Courts of Justice in London had listened to evidence for two weeks.

Anadolu Agency - Photo: The Telegraph