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Life Sentence in Damascus
A Damascus court sentenced former Syrian Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun to life in prison on Monday, convicting him of crimes committed during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war.
“The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus issued the ruling on Monday”
The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus issued the ruling on Monday, with Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan finding Hassoun guilty of offenses including inciting violence and justifying killings, and the court ordered compensation to make restitution to a number of his victims.
Al Jazeera reported that Hassoun was arrested at Damascus airport in March 2025 after he emerged from hiding a month earlier, and that his trial began on June 25.
The verdict also came weeks after Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher and five other security officials were sentenced to death in absentia for war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to Al Jazeera.
Kurdistan24 said the Damascus Fourth Criminal Court delivered the life sentence on Aug. 24 during the sixth session, after Hassoun’s six-hearing trial reached a verdict.
Court’s Reasoning and Voices
In explaining the conviction, the court said the official religious institution headed by the Dar al-Ifta was used to provide religious cover for military and security operations during al-Assad’s rule, and that it justified the use of barrel bombs that targeted civilian areas.
Al Jazeera quoted Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan saying, "the official religious institution he headed were used to provide religious cover for military and security operations during al-Assad’s rule."
France 24 said the court also found Hassoun guilty of inciting "sectarian fighting" and abusing his office, and it ordered confiscation of his movable and immovable funds in favor of the general treasury.
AP, via the Toronto Star, reported that Judge Fakhreddine al-Aryan said the establishment under Assad’s rule had "justified the use of barrel bombs that targeted civilian areas and caused widespread destruction".
Al Jazeera’s Heidi Pett said Hassoun was an “unusual” example of Syria’s transitional justice cases, adding that “he is the first Sunni to have been tried” and that he “does still enjoy some level of popular support here in Syria.”
Transitional Justice Fallout
The life sentence against Hassoun was delivered as Syria’s transitional justice process continued to target figures linked to the former regime, with the court also ordering seizure and confiscation of his movable and immovable property for the state treasury.
“At the fifth hearing on Aug. 6, prosecutors sought the maximum penalty, the death sentence”
Kurdistan24 said the trial began on June 25 and included prosecution evidence, witness testimony, defense submissions and Hassoun’s final statements, and it noted that prosecutors sought the maximum penalty, the death sentence, at the fifth hearing on Aug. 6.
The National reported that prosecutors demanded the death penalty for Hassoun, and it said the court ordered confiscation of his moveable assets.
Le Monde reported that the conviction was the first judgment against a religious official in the prosecutions brought against Bashar al-Assad and figures associated with him, and it said the court sentenced Bashar al-Assad, Maher al-Assad and five security officials to death in absentia on August 11.
Human Rights Watch’s Balkees Jarrah said the trials raise urgent legal questions, arguing, "To advance justice in the face of the litany of grave crimes committed in Syria, it is not enough to issue convictions" and reiterating HRW’s rejection of the death penalty “in all circumstances due to its cruelty and irreversibility.”