Aleading Syrian diaspora critic of President Bashar Assad died on Tuesday after being murdered with an axe, according to German media reports.
Authorities are searching for two suspects, the magazine Stern reported.
The mass-circulation daily Bild reported that a acquaintance of the victim told Bild that Joune was "likely murdered because of his political activities" against Assad.
Joune, 48, oversaw the Union of Syrians Abroad and lived in the northern German city of Hamburg, where he worked as pharmacist and owned real estate.
Joune was rushed to a local hospital on Tuesday with severe head and body wounds, and later died of blood loss.
The Bild reported that Joune, shortly before his murder, had terminated the rental agreement of a Syrian whom he, according to the acquaintance, allegedly “discovered the tenant’s father in a video as a member of Assad’s army.”
The German magazine Stern reported that authorities are searching for two suspects in the murder. Joune’s acquaintance said he had spoken before his murder about “organizing a demonstration in Hamburg against the yearly anniversary of the Syrian revolution.”
The Jerusalem Post reported in 2017 that Germany is a hotbed of Iranian, Russian and Syrian regimes’ spy activity. Germany’s federal government declared four Syrian agents persona non grata.
According to the website of the Union of Syrians Abroad, its aim is “to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people, especially women and children, both in Syria and in neighboring countries.” The humanitarian organization was founded in 2011 – the year that the Syrian revolution began.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
