German prosecutors announced that police arrested a Syrian man on Tuesday suspected of committing crimes against humanity, including murder and torture, while he was a commander of an “armed group affiliated with the former regime” in Aleppo in 2011.

The Syrian, identified only as Anwar S. in accordance with German privacy laws, is suspected to have been a commander of an armed group affiliated with the former Syrian regime operating in Aleppo on behalf of the Syrian leadership under former President Bashar al-Assad.

Prosecutors said that in eight incidents between April and November 2011, after Friday prayers, the suspect and members of the armed group assaulted civilians with batons, metal pipes, and other tools to disperse protests. Prosecutors added in a statement that they believe electric shocks were also used.

They stated that some protesters were handed over to the police and intelligence services and suffered severe abuses during detention, with one protester dying in one of the cases.

Germany has targeted several former Syrian officials in recent years under universal jurisdiction laws that allow prosecutors to seek trials for suspects involved in crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world.