Syrian court holds first hearing in case against Assad and allies

A Syrian court held its first hearing on Sunday, April 26, in the trial of ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad and senior figures from his former government, marking the start of transitional justice proceedings, with one defendant appearing in person.

Assad and his brother Maher, who fled the country, will be tried in absentia. However, their relative, former security official Atef Najib, appeared in court in handcuffs.

"Today we begin the first trials of transitional justice in Syria," Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan said as he opened the session.

"This includes a defendant in custody, present in the dock, as well as defendants who have fled justice," he added.

According to a judicial source who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, the session marked the beginning of preparations for full trials involving Assad, his brother, and other senior figures, including Najib.

Najib, who was arrested in January 2025 following the collapse of the Assad government, appeared in a Damascus courtroom wearing a striped prison jersey.

He previously led Syria’s political security branch in the southern province of Daraa, where the country’s 2011 uprising first began, and is accused of overseeing a широкая campaign of repression and arrests.

Assad fled to Moscow in December 2024 as Islamist-led forces advanced on Damascus, bringing an end to more than five decades of rule by his family.

The judge did not question Najib during Sunday’s hearing, which focused on "preparatory administrative and legal procedures," and announced that the next session will take place on May 10.

The judicial source added that in-person trials are expected to include Wassim al-Assad, another relative of the former president, former grand mufti Ahmed Badreddin Hassoun, as well as military and security officials detained by the new authorities in recent months.

By Tamilla Hasanova