Syria puts first Assad-era official on trial in Damascus

Atef Najib, erstwhile caput of governmental information successful the Deraa province, is charged with ‘crimes against the Syrian people’.

Syria has begun its archetypal nationalist proceedings of officials who served nether longtime person Bashar al-Assad, 15 years aft the commencement of the civilian war.

Trial proceedings opened successful Damascus connected Sunday for Atef Najib, the erstwhile caput of governmental information successful confederate Syria’s Deraa province.

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He is accused of overseeing a convulsive crackdown connected protesters determination during the 2011 uprising, and faces charges related to “crimes against the Syrian people”, according to Syria’s state-run quality agency, SANA.

Najib, who is simply a relative of al-Assad, was the sole suspect successful tribunal for Sunday’s preparatory league of the proceedings acceptable to proceed adjacent month.

Charged successful their lack are Al-Assad and his brother, Maher, erstwhile commandant of the Syrian military’s 4th Armoured Division. Along with other erstwhile high-ranking information officials besides charged successful absentia, they are accused of killings, torture, extortion and cause trafficking.

Crowds gathered extracurricular the tribunal connected Sunday successful celebration, arsenic families of victims, including immoderate from Deraa, attended the session.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Mubasher, a spokesperson for Syria’s Justice Ministry said holding the proceedings successful nationalist was important to guarantee transparency and judicial independency arsenic portion of the transitional justness process.

Syrians battalion the Palace of Justice successful Damascus arsenic Atef Najib, erstwhile caput of governmental information successful Deraa, attends a proceedings session, April 26 [Khalil Ashawi/Reuters]

Najib oversaw governmental information successful Deraa erstwhile teenagers who scrawled antigovernment graffiti connected a schoolhouse partition successful Deraa were arrested and tortured, successful a lawsuit that became a catalyst for the broader uprising.

Further protests were met by a brutal authorities crackdown and spiralled into a 14-year civilian warfare that ended with al-Assad’s overthrow successful December 2024 in a lightning rebel offensive. Al-Assad past fled to Russia, and astir members of his interior ellipse person besides escaped Syria.

The authorities of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has faced disapproval implicit delays successful launching a promised transitional justness process pursuing the civilian war, successful which an estimated fractional a cardinal radical were killed. But authorities present look to beryllium moving much aggressively to prosecute officials linked to al-Assad.

On Friday, Syrian authorities arrested erstwhile quality serviceman Amjad Yousef, the main fishy accused of the 2013 Tadamon massacre successful Damascus, erstwhile astatine slightest 41 radical were killed.

In 2022, a leaked video appeared to amusement Youssef shooting civilians who had been detained and blindfolded, with their hands bound.