Syrian court opens first transitional trial against Assad and allies
Bashar al-Assad is being tried in absentia, while former security chief Atif Najib appeared in shackles in the courtroom.
DAMASCUS — A Syrian court on Sunday opened the first hearing in the trial of former president Bashar al-Assad and a group of senior officials from his regime. According to Telegrafi, this is the first transitional-justice hearing in the country since Assad’s ouster in December 2024.
Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher al-Assad are being tried in absentia after both fled Syria when the regime collapsed. Former security official Atif Najib, arrested in January 2025, appeared in court in shackles. He had once led political security in Daraa province, where the 2011 Syrian uprising began.
Presiding judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan said at the opening that this marks the start of the first chapter of transitional justice in Syria, underscoring the symbolic and legal weight of the moment. The charges include crimes against humanity, among them torture and killings that Syrian sources say occurred in the early years of the war.
A 14-year conflict
The Syrian civil war began after security forces in Daraa tortured a group of teenagers who had spray-painted anti-government graffiti. The ensuing conflict laid waste to entire cities and displaced millions of civilians.
The new authorities have pledged that proceedings will be public and transparent and open to international observers. Human-rights groups expect testimony from the courtroom to pave the way for additional national and international proceedings.
Today we begin the first transitional-justice trials in Syria, the presiding judge said, as reported by Telegrafi, confirming that the court will follow standard international procedures in evaluating evidence.
Relatives of victims and former detainees packed the courtroom and the streets around the courthouse. Many held photographs of people who disappeared while the regime was in power. The trial is expected to last months, and the list of defendants may grow to include other figures still in Syria.
The international community has welcomed the process as an important step toward accountability, while European governments have offered technical support to Syrian courts.
Source: Telegrafi