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News & Current Events Apr 26, 2026 at 2:58 PM

Syria’s first public trial of Assad-era officials opens in Damascus | AP News

Posted by DetectiveObjective00


Syria’s first public trial of Assad-era officials opens in Damascus
AP News
Syria’s first public trial of Assad-era officials opens in Damascus
Syria has opened its first public trial of officials linked to former President Bashar Assad. Atef Najib, a former army brigadier general, appeared in court Sunday.

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1314L 1 day ago +30
Many never imagined they'd get to see them get trials or lay for the crimes they've done, the one that started the trial today is Atef Najib, he's the cousin of Bashar Al-Assad and therefore had lots of power, he was the head of the notorious Political Security Division in Daraa, the families of the victims attended and I can't imagine how they feel now, some activists held the pictures of the children who were killed but I'm not sure if I can post them here. [Here's where you can find the pictures, the article is in Arabic though ](https://aawsat.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A/5266765-%D8%A3%D8%B7%D9%81%D8%A7%D9%84-%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%AF%D8%B1%D8%B9%D8%A7-%D9%8A%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AF%D8%AB%D9%88%D9%86-%D9%84%D9%80%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B4%D8%B1%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%88%D8%B3%D8%B7-%D8%AE%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%83%D9%85%D8%A9-%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%B7%D9%81-%D9%86%D8%AC%D9%8A%D8%A8)
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Fallouttgrrl 1 day ago +19
My sister was a translator during all of this The things the administration did were so horrific, she became a park ranger to be able to live as far from humanity as she could imagine for the rest of her life
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urgencynow 1 day ago +22
Russia still protecting the one that should be trialed
22
Minute_Bug6147 1 day ago +5
Syria beating the USA at accountability.
5
542531 1 day ago +6
During a change of power* I would stress this, since Syria shouldn't be taken lightly. My friends family had to flee from Syria.
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Minute_Bug6147 20 hr ago +1
I did not mean to sound flip. I will never forget those horrifying images from Assad’s chemical attacks.
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EXPLODEDman 2 days ago +15
Glad some sort of justice might be found. America will wait its turn.
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IWillKeepMakingAccs9 1 day ago +4
then go get sum chair cuz u gonna get tired of waiting.
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Retireegeorge 1 day ago +1
Yeah I hope those complicit with Trump are watching carefully.
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JaronJervis 1 day ago -14
Justice from a Terrorist run government? Syria exchanged one dictator, for an actual Al Qaeda 'ex terrorist'. I think not.
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notrevealingrealname 1 day ago +3
Something something Northern Ireland…
3
JustARandomDrunkGuy 1 day ago +5
People can change, and apparently he was quite popular for a while under his previous governmental-related roles in Idlib with the SSY. Best we can do is wait and see. There’s a lot of signs that are pointing towards a positive direction when it comes to these trials being legitimate. Hopefully they follow through on their promise of open elections too, with UN election observers and all that for legitimacy. He does have a sketchy as shit past though regardless.
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613codyrex 1 day ago +1
I mean, the foundation of the IDF and Israel in general are actual legitimate terrorist organizations. He’s going to need to more likely navigate Israel trying to annex more of Syria’s territory as one of the major hurdles beyond attempting to keep Syria together.
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Pale_Fire21 1 day ago +6
Yes but this guy is friendly to US interests and that’s all that matters. For more evidence see every American backed regime change since the Cold War.
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newzinoapp 1 day ago +1
Atef Najib ran Assad's Political Security in Daraa. He's also Assad's cousin. In March 2011, his officers arrested around 15 teenagers for spray-painting "Your turn has come, Doctor" on a school wall. The kids were held for 26 days. Tortured with electric current in wet bathrooms. Parents who showed up demanding their release were told: "Forget your children. Go make new ones. If you can't, send us your wives." The protests that followed killed 3 people on March 18, 2011. By the end, the UN documented 306,887 civilian deaths. Najib was captured hiding in rural Latakia in January 2025. One thing worth watching: Human Rights Watch flagged that the transitional justice commission's mandate only covers regime crimes. HTS, ISIS, and Turkish-backed militia crimes are excluded.
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imoftendisgruntled 2 days ago -1
Syria can prosecute corrupt government officials, I’m not taking the bet that the US can.
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OldAccountIsGlitched 1 day ago +18
Syria had a very bloody civil war that ended with the leader of the regime fleeing to Russia. The people are on trial for war crimes, not corruption.
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mrjosemeehan 1 day ago +4
The US civil war ended with blanket pardons for human traffickers.
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Grim_Rockwell 1 day ago +1
Let's just conveniently ignore the million plus Americans that died due to the willful mismanagament of the COVID epidemic... not too mention the extrajudicial execution of citizens by police and ICE, or the thousands that die in American jails every year due to cruelty and neglect... as if the US isn't a habitual and relentless human rights violator.
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imoftendisgruntled 1 day ago -3
War crimes you say? The US has those too.
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JaronJervis 1 day ago -12
The Syrian Government went from Dictatorship to Terrorist led. How can terrorists put war criminals on trial?
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Lirael_Gold 1 day ago +1
One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter. I'm not denying that HTS as a group are nasty people, but they seem to be at least "trying" to be an actual state government. Same for the Taliban in Afghanistan, or the Houthis in Yemen. At some point all civil wars end and the people who rule the ashes need to be negotiated with. Otherwise you end up with say, the Sudanese civil war, or the Myanmar civil war, where it's just an endless cycle of violence. Or Israel, the worst possible outcome. Or Libya, which is still unstable.
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