Syria Has Begun Its First Public Trial Of Former Assad Regime Officials For Committing “Crimes Against Syrians”
Unlike the closed-door military tribunals common under the Assad regime, the sessions are being held in a public forum.
Syria has begun its first public trial of officials who committed “crimes against the Syrian people” under former president Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime for over 14 years.
The trial began on Sunday, April 26, focusing on Atef Najib, a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria’s Daraa province and who is also Assad's cousin, who is being charged with "crimes against the Syrian people" for his role in suppressing early protests in Daraa province during the 2011 Syrian uprising, according to SANA.
In early 2011, a wave of popular uprisings was sweeping across the Arab world.
In March 2011, a group of children, some as young as 10, in the city of Daraa sprayed anti-regime slogans on a school wall, including "Your turn has come, O Doctor," a reference to Assad, who had trained as an ophthalmologist.
Najib led the Political Security Branch in Daraa province at the time and ordered the arrest and torture of the children.
Their arrest was a catalyst that led to People across Syria to erupt in protests, demanding the release of the boys, an end to corruption and greater political freedom.
Assad’s government responded to the protests with a brutal crackdown, including mass arrests, live ammunition and military sieges of entire cities, spiraling into a 14-year civil war that ended with Assad’s ouster in December 2024 in a lightning offensive.
Najib was arrested by the new government in January 2025 and appeared in person on Sunday trial.
The judge said on Sunday that this trial includes Najib as well as defendants who have fled justice.
Bashar al-Assad, who remains in Moscow, where Russian president Vladimir Putin granted him asylum, and his brother Maher al-Assad, former commander of the 4th Armored Division, were charged in absentia along with other ex-security officials.
They reportedly face accusations ranging from torture and killings to extortion and drug trafficking.
In-person trials are also expected for Wassim al-Assad, another relative of the former president, and former grand mufti Ahmed Badreddin Hassoun.
On Friday, April 25, Syrian authorities also arrested Amjed Youssef, a former intelligence officer who appeared in a video leaked four years ago that purportedly showed him and his comrades executing dozens of blindfolded and shackled prisoners in the Damascus suburb of Tadamon during the country’s civil war, according to AP.
Syria's interim government said the trials will adhere to international standards of due process.
Unlike the closed-door military tribunals common under the Assad regime, the sessions are being held in a public forum with legal representation provided for the defendants.
The trial resumes on May 10.
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