These promises of justice come as a response to strong demands from the Syrian people and the international community. Hearings have been held in Damascus and Aleppo, some of which have received extensive media coverage. Public prosecutors’ offices dedicated to transitional justice cases are being established in Homs and Latakia. Proceedings are not all held in the same way: some are public, others take place behind closed doors, and several defendants are being tried in absentia. Here we list the criminal proceedings that are currently known, almost two years after Assad’s fall.
Below, Justice Info presents a map accompanied by a summary of the figures and visual data. All of this data (finalised in early November 2026) is set out in more detail in an article further down the page.
In Aleppo, the trial on 2025 coast violence draws to a close
On November 18, 2025, the trial began concerning violence that struck the Syrian coast in March 2025, resulting in more than 1,400 deaths among Alawite civilians. This trial in Aleppo (north-west Syria) represents a response by the current government to the massacres. Seven militiamen loyal to the former regime and seven members of the new security forces were tried over the course of 16 hearings, held both in public and in camera. On September 17 and October 15, 2026, the military court handed down 11 convictions and 2 acquittals.
In Damascus, 16 trials of former Assad regime officials concluded or ongoing
In 2026, the Syrian capital has seen several trials organised on crimes attributed to former officials and leading figures of the Assad regime, including Bashar al-Assad himself. The majority are being heard by the Fourth Criminal Chamber of the Damascus Courthouse.
• On April 26, 2026, the Fourth Criminal Chamber in Damascus opened its first major trial, with Atef Najib, former head of political security in Deraa (southern Syria), Bashar al-Assad and seven other officials being tried in absentia. They include the former president’s brother Maher Hafez al-Assad and former defence minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij. Najib, who was arrested on April 7, 2026, appeared at nine hearings. The court heard dozens of witnesses with regard to the arrest and alleged torture of children, shooting of demonstrators, and events that took place at the al-Omari Mosque. On August 11, 2026, the court delivered its 396-page judgement. “The document will be published at a later date on the Ministry of Justice’s official website, once the names of protected witnesses have been redacted,” the official Syrian news agency Sana stated in a press release. The court found Najib guilty of murder and ordering the shooting of demonstrators. It described the acts as crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death. On the same day, the court handed down death sentences in absentia against Bashar al-Assad and seven other senior officials.
In a statement to Sana, Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan, president of the Fourth Criminal Chamber, announced that the judgments handed down in absentia would be forwarded to Interpol.
• On June 14, 2026, the trial of Abdel Nasser al-Burraqi began before the Fourth Criminal Chamber at the Damascus Courthouse. Described as an informant for the former regime, he was charged with enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, complicity in premeditated murder, torture resulting in death, robbery with violence and false accusation. On August 27, 2026, he was found guilty of all these crimes. In classifying them as war crimes and crimes against humanity, the court drew on international law. It applied Syrian law in determining the sentence. Al-Burraqi was sentenced to death, with seizure of all his assets.
• On June 25, 2026, Ahmed Badr al-Din Hassoun, former Grand Mufti of Syria under Bashar al-Assad, appeared before the Fourth Criminal Chamber of the Damascus Courthouse. His trial concluded on August 24, 2026, following six hearings. The charges related to his alleged role in violence committed by former regime forces, notably through incitement and public speeches. The court sentenced him to life imprisonment, along with other penalties, fines and civil measures.
• On June 24, 2026, Wasim Badi’a al-Assad, cousin of the deposed president, appeared before the Fourth Criminal Chamber in Damascus. The trial concluded on August 18, 2026, after six hearings. He was charged with forming and leading armed groups, as well as murder, extortion and drug trafficking. The court found that he had formed two armed groups, which were deployed in the town of al-Mleiha in Eastern Ghouta (east of Damascus) between 2012 and 2014. It found him guilty and sentenced him to death for premeditated murder, murder accompanied by torture and arbitrary detention. However, it acquitted him of smuggling and drug trafficking charges due to lack of evidence.
• Since October 5, 2026, four trials have been taking place in camera before the Fourth Criminal Chamber against individuals accused of crimes under the former regime.
In the first case, the chamber is prosecuting Akram Salloum al-Abdallah, a former head of the military police between 2014 and 2015. Arrested on October 22, 2025, he faces charges of murder and complicity in torture resulting in death. He is appearing alongside three co-defendants who are being tried in absentia.
Meanwhile, a similar case concerns Sami Jibran, a resident of Banias, on the Syrian coast. He is being prosecuted for the same offences, which the judge has classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity. His trial involves four other co-defendants who are being tried in absentia.
A third case concerns Imad Salah Salah, a former military police photographer accused of concealing evidence of torture and the identities of the victims. At his second hearing on October 20, the accused denied the charges against him.
Finally, a fourth case concerns Ayman Khello bin Mohammad. Described as a colonel and doctor within the security services, he is being prosecuted for complicity in murder, torture resulting in death, enforced disappearance, and the issuing of false death certificates. At the first hearing on October 5, the accused said he was not guilty of the charges against him. On October 21, during the second hearing, three further defendants appeared in court. The verdict is expected on November 10.
Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan also said in a statement to the Sana news agency that the court is currently examining around 61 cases relating to transitional justice, having already ruled on 12 cases linked to serious violations.
In Al-Kiswah (Damascus), the trial on violence in Suwayda continues
On July 1, 2026, the trial concerning violence of July 2025, which resulted in more than 1,700 deaths in Suwayda, opened before the military court of Al-Kiswah (south of Damascus), a predominantly Druze province in southern Syria. Ten defendants are on trial for murder, torture, looting, vandalism and incitement to sectarian strife. The hearings are ongoing. The cases relate to separate incidents and charges, some of which are still under investigation. Several new defendants have been referred to the investigating judge.
In Homs and Latakia, public prosecutor’s offices on transitional justice being set up
• In Homs (central-western Syria), a public prosecutor’s office dedicated to transitional justice has been opened at the Homs Courthouse and magistrates have been appointed. The first trials are expected to take place within one or two months.
• In Latakia (north-west Syria), a transitional justice prosecutor’s office has also been opened. The schedule is yet to be finalised for the first hearings and cases to be heard. In early November, the case of Houssam Ghamira – a staff member of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Disaster Management who suffered from hemophilia and died during an interrogation at a security services branch under the jurisdiction of the Al-Haffé police station – began. One of his interrogators, Ahmad Jawad, appeared before the military court. He is accused of beating up the victim.
UPCOMING ARRESTS AND TRIALS
Among those arrested who may face trial in the near future are: Amjad Youssef, the main suspect in the 2013 massacre in Al-Tadamon district of Damascus; Ali Kaiali, known as Miraj Oral, a militia leader accused of being responsible for the 2013 Banias massacre plus his right-hand man Jamal Tarablsi; former interior minister Mohammad Ibrahim al-Chaar; General Ibrahim Houeija, former head of Air Force intelligence, along with Colonels Salem Daghestani and Riyad Hamdo al-Chehada; and General Naïf Saleh Dhergham, former Chief Military Prosecutor, who is also in detention in Syria.
The trials already underway and the arrests of former members of Bashar al-Assad’s regime mark the first stages of a judicial process whose full outlines still remain to be seen.
