{"id":93908,"date":"2026-05-02T07:26:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-02T07:26:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/93908\/"},"modified":"2026-05-02T07:26:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-02T07:26:25","slug":"syrian-court-begins-proceedings-against-assad-regime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/93908\/","title":{"rendered":"Syrian court begins proceedings against Assad regime"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                                    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.gulf-times.com\/gulftimes\/uploads\/images\/2026\/04\/27\/439537.jpg\" alt=\"Former head of political security in south Syria's Daraa province, Atif Najib attends the first trial session at the Palace of Justice, in Damascus on April 26, 2026. Trials of prominent figures from the rule of ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad are set to begin this weekend, a justice ministry official told AFP on April 25, starting with a former security official. &quot;The first trial sessions for symbolic former Syrian regime figures will begin on Sunday&quot; with Atif Najib, who was arrested in January of last year, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Najib is the former head of political security in south Syria's Daraa province, the cradle of the country's 2011 uprising, and is accused of orchestrating a crackdown there. (Photo by Bakr ALkasem \/ AFP)\" title=\"Former head of political security in south Syria's Daraa province, Atif Najib attends the first trial session at the Palace of Justice, in Damascus on April 26, 2026. Trials of prominent figures from the rule of ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad are set to begin this weekend, a justice ministry official told AFP on April 25, starting with a former security official. &quot;The first trial sessions for symbolic former Syrian regime figures will begin on Sunday&quot; with Atif Najib, who was arrested in January of last year, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Najib is the former head of political security in south Syria's Daraa province, the cradle of the country's 2011 uprising, and is accused of orchestrating a crackdown there. (Photo by Bakr ALkasem \/ AFP)\" onerror=\"this.src=\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Former head of political security in south Syria&#8217;s Daraa province, Atif Najib attends the first trial session at the Palace of Justice, in Damascus on April 26, 2026. Trials of prominent figures from the rule of ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad are set to begin this weekend, a justice ministry official told AFP on April 25, starting with a former security official. &#8220;The first trial sessions for symbolic former Syrian regime figures will begin on Sunday&#8221; with Atif Najib, who was arrested in January of last year, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Najib is the former head of political security in south Syria&#8217;s Daraa province, the cradle of the country&#8217;s 2011 uprising, and is accused of orchestrating a crackdown there. (Photo by Bakr ALkasem \/ AFP)<\/p>\n<p>A\u00a0Syrian\u00a0court\u00a0conducted\u00a0the\u00a0first\u00a0hearing\u00a0yesterday\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0trial\u00a0of\u00a0ousted\u00a0ruler\u00a0Bashar\u00a0al-Assad\u00a0and\u00a0senior\u00a0figures\u00a0from\u00a0his\u00a0government,\u00a0one\u00a0of\u00a0whom\u00a0appeared\u00a0in\u00a0person.<\/p>\n<p>Assad\u00a0and\u00a0his\u00a0brother\u00a0Maher\u00a0have\u00a0fled\u00a0Syria\u00a0and\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0tried\u00a0in\u00a0absentia,\u00a0but\u00a0one\u00a0of\u00a0their\u00a0relatives,\u00a0former\u00a0security\u00a0official\u00a0Atef\u00a0Najib,\u00a0was\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0dock\u00a0in\u00a0handcuffs.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday\u00a0we\u00a0begin\u00a0the\u00a0first\u00a0trials\u00a0of\u00a0transitional\u00a0justice\u00a0in\u00a0Syria,\u201d\u00a0judge\u00a0Fakhr\u00a0al-Din\u00a0al-Aryan\u00a0declared\u00a0as\u00a0he\u00a0opened\u00a0the\u00a0session.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis\u00a0includes\u00a0a\u00a0defendant\u00a0in\u00a0custody,\u00a0present\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0dock,\u00a0as\u00a0well\u00a0as\u00a0defendants\u00a0who\u00a0have\u00a0fled\u00a0justice,\u201d\u00a0he\u00a0said.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A\u00a0judicial\u00a0source,\u00a0speaking\u00a0to\u00a0AFP\u00a0on\u00a0condition\u00a0of\u00a0anonymity,\u00a0said\u00a0the\u00a0proceedings\u00a0marked\u00a0the\u00a0beginning\u00a0of\u00a0preparations\u00a0for\u00a0the\u00a0trials\u00a0of\u00a0Assad,\u00a0his\u00a0brother\u00a0and\u00a0other\u00a0prominent\u00a0figures\u00a0like\u00a0Najib.<\/p>\n<p>Najib,\u00a0who\u00a0was\u00a0arrested\u00a0in\u00a0January\u00a02025\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0aftermath\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0collapse\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0Assad\u00a0government,\u00a0appeared\u00a0in\u00a0court\u00a0in\u00a0Damascus\u00a0in\u00a0a\u00a0striped\u00a0prison\u00a0jersey.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He\u00a0previously\u00a0headed\u00a0Syria\u2019s\u00a0political\u00a0security\u00a0branch\u00a0in\u00a0the\u00a0southern\u00a0province\u00a0of\u00a0Daraa,\u00a0where\u00a0Syria\u2019s\u00a02011\u00a0uprising\u00a0first\u00a0erupted.<\/p>\n<p>He\u00a0is\u00a0accused\u00a0of\u00a0leading\u00a0a\u00a0broad\u00a0campaign\u00a0of\u00a0repression\u00a0and\u00a0arrests\u00a0there.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Assad\u00a0fled\u00a0to\u00a0Moscow\u00a0as\u00a0Syrian\u00a0forces\u00a0closed\u00a0in\u00a0on\u00a0Damascus\u00a0in\u00a0December\u00a02024,\u00a0ending\u00a0more\u00a0than\u00a0five\u00a0decades\u00a0of\u00a0his\u00a0family\u00a0dynasty\u2019s\u00a0rule.<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0judge\u00a0did\u00a0not\u00a0question\u00a0Najib\u00a0during\u00a0Sunday\u2019s\u00a0session,\u00a0which\u00a0was\u00a0dedicated\u00a0to\u00a0\u201cpreparatory\u00a0administrative\u00a0and\u00a0legal\u00a0procedures\u201d,\u00a0and\u00a0announced\u00a0that\u00a0a\u00a0second\u00a0hearing\u00a0would\u00a0be\u00a0held\u00a0on\u00a0May\u00a010.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The\u00a0judicial\u00a0source\u00a0said\u00a0in-person\u00a0trials\u00a0will\u00a0include\u00a0Wassim\u00a0al-Assad,\u00a0another\u00a0relative\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0ousted\u00a0president,\u00a0former\u00a0grand\u00a0mufti\u00a0Ahmed\u00a0Badreddin\u00a0Hassoun,\u00a0as\u00a0well\u00a0as\u00a0military\u00a0and\u00a0security\u00a0officials\u00a0arrested\u00a0by\u00a0the\u00a0new\u00a0authorities\u00a0in\u00a0recent\u00a0months.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former head of political security in south Syria&#8217;s Daraa province, Atif Najib attends the first trial session at&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[606,2735,12336,1420,33138,2967,95,10741],"class_list":{"0":"post-93908","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-syria","8":"tag-against","9":"tag-assad","10":"tag-begins","11":"tag-court","12":"tag-proceedings","13":"tag-regime","14":"tag-syria","15":"tag-syrian"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116503798244778019","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}