Assadullah Sarwari

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Assadullah Sarwari (born 1941 is Russian-educated and served as an air force pilot under the monarchy of Mohammed Zahir Shah, and later as the air force garrison commander under President Daud Khan in 1973.

When the Communist government took over he was appointed head of the Afghan intelligence service in 1978.

In September 1979 Sarwari was involved in plot to oust prime minister Hafizullah Amin. After failure of plot, he escaped to Soviet Embassy, where he was given asylum until Soviet invasion and fall of Amin in December 1979.

After invasion, under government of Babrak Karmal, Sarwari was first given task of deputy prime minister, but he was soon removed from government and posted as ambassador to Mongolia.

In 1992, after the collapse of the Communist regime, Sarwari was arrested and remained in prison for more than 13 years.

On December 25, 2005, he was charged with the involvement in the arbitrary arrest, torture and mass killing of hundreds of opponents during his tenure as head of Afghan intelligence for a period of one year. On February 25, 2006, he was sentenced to die by firing squad for ordering the killings of over 400 murders; he was cleared of charges involving conspiracy against the post-Communist government. His is the first trial involving war crimes in Afghanistan.

Reuters reports that he received a death sentence in January 2006..^[1]

[edit] References

^ "AFGHANISTAN: Communist era mass grave discovered hightlights need for post-war justice", Reuters, 22 December 2006. Retrieved on 2008-03-01. "In January this year, a former Afghan intelligence chief, Assadullah Sarwary was sentenced to death for his alleged involvement in mass killings during the rule of Noor Mohammad Tarakai."