the Syrian judiciary issued two death sentences against two loyalists of the former regime and sentenced another defendant, a member of the current Ministry of Defense, to twenty years in prison, for their involvement in the bloody violence that occurred on the Syrian coast last year.
Hot Topics
66-million-year-old evidence reveals when the catastrophe that wiped out the dinosaurs occurred
The predominantly Alawite coastal region witnessed sectarian violence for three days starting on March 6, 2025. Authorities accused armed men loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad of instigating the violence through attacks that killed dozens of their members.
In September, the judiciary issued a death sentence and a life sentence against two loyalists of the previous regime, and sentenced a member of the Ministry of Defense of the new authorities to twenty years in prison in the same case.
On Thursday, the trials that had begun in November 2025 were completed in the city of Aleppo in northern Syria, as the judiciary issued its verdicts against three defendants who were loyal to the former regime and seven members of the Ministry of Defense.
The head of the Military Criminal Court, Zakaria Bakkar, announced the death sentence by hanging for two defendants loyal to Assad “for the crime of aggression aimed at inciting civil war and sectarian strife” and for “the crime of heading and leading armed gangs.”
The third was sentenced to 12 years in prison “for the crime of interfering in the felony of aggression aimed at inciting civil war and sectarian strife and for the crime of interfering by heading and leading armed gangs.”
The judge sentenced another defendant, a current member of the Ministry of Defense, to 20 years in prison for “the felony of premeditated murder.”
He sentenced another officer to three years in prison for the crime of torture, and sentenced two others to two years in prison in the same case.
The court acquitted two members of the Ministry of Defense and sentenced a third to two months in prison for being convicted of the misdemeanor of causing harm.
The violence on the Syrian coast has left about 1,700 dead, the vast majority of whom were Alawites, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Observatory, witnesses, and human rights organizations reported that security forces and allied groups committed massacres and "field executions" targeting the Alawite minority to which the Assad family belongs.
An investigative committee appointed by the authorities announced in July 2025 that it had identified 298 people suspected of involvement in acts of violence against the Alawite minority, noting that it had verified “serious violations” that resulted in the killing of 1,426 Alawites whose names were documented.
According to the investigation committee, 238 members of the public security and army also died.
Tags:
asiawest