Tarek Chouiref
27 April 2026•Update: 27 April 2026
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said Sunday that justice would remain “one of the highest values for which our people triumphed” as the country opened its first public trial over crimes committed during the Assad era.
In a post on the US social media company X’s platform, Sharaa said justice would remain “a major goal pursued by the state and its institutions to ensure fairness for victims, heal wounds, strengthen civil peace and coexistence, and reaffirm our commitment to pursuing those responsible for the suffering of our people.”
His remarks came as the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus held the first public hearing of Atef Najib, the former head of the political security branch in southern Syria’s Daraa province and a cousin of ousted regime leader Bashar al-Assad.
Najib appeared before victims’ families on charges related to violations against civilians in Daraa, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising.
According to Al-Ikhbariya TV, the trial is part of the first transitional justice proceedings in the country and includes one detained defendant, Najib, alongside several fugitives from justice.
Among those named by the judge during the session were Assad; his brother Maher al-Assad, the commander of the Syrian Army's elite 4th Armored Division; former Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij, former military intelligence chief in Daraa Laith al-Ali; and former military intelligence chief in Suwayda province Wafiq Nasser.
The judge adjourned the session until May 10.
The court session was followed by emotional reactions from victims’ families and attendees, with revolutionary slogans raised inside the courtroom after the hearing was adjourned.
The state news agency SANA said Najib, who was arrested in January 2025, is facing charges of committing crimes against the Syrian people and is the first defendant from the former regime’s inner circle to stand public trial.
The agency added that victims’ relatives, Arab and international lawyers, and journalists attended the session.
Syrians in Daraa expressed satisfaction at seeing Najib in the defendant’s cage, saying he had humiliated residents, abused families and played a major role in the arrest and torture of children whose detention helped ignite the Syrian revolution.
In December 2024, Assad, who ruled Syria for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia, bringing an end to the Baath Party’s decades of rule that began in 1963. A transitional administration led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa was formed in January 2025.
