Damascus Resumes Trial Of Atef Najib Over Arrests And Torture Of Children

Damascus resumed the trial of deposed regime figure Atef Najib as the second session opened Sunday before the Fourth Criminal Court at the Palace of Justice in Damascus, focusing on questioning Najib and the prosecution’s presentation of charges.

“Atef Najib, the former head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa, appeared again before the Damascus judiciary on Sunday, in the second session of his trial over abuses that occurred in Daraa Governorate during the rule of the toppled regime of Bashar al-Assad”

Al-Jazeera Net

SANA said Najib, who headed the Political Security branch in Daraa at the start of the Syrian revolution, was involved in the arrest and torture of children after they wrote anti-regime slogans on walls in the city, as well as crimes against the Syrian people.

Al-Jazeera Net

The hearing was attended by victims’ families, members of the National Commission for Transitional Justice, and representatives of international legal and humanitarian organizations, while the first public hearing had been held on April 26 at the Palace of Justice in Damascus in the presence of Attorney General Hassan al-Turba.

In parallel, قناة ومنصة المشهد reported that the second public session of Atif Najib’s trial began after final preparations inside the Fourth Criminal Court at the Damascus Courthouse, with internal security forces deployed in front of and around the courthouse to secure the area.

In the second session of Atef Najib’s trial, Judge Fakhreddin Al-Arian directed a series of charges that included willful killing, torture, arbitrary detention, and committing massacres, and he attributed direct leadership responsibility to Najib for acts targeting civilians.

The judge also stripped Bashar al-Assad, the ousted president; his defense minister Fahd al-Frej; and Maher al-Assad, along with other named officials, of their civil rights and placed their movable and immovable property at the disposal of the Syrian state.

سانا

عنب بلدي reported that Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Arian suspended live broadcasting from inside the courtroom before the media because pleadings and questions contained documents, the names of protected witnesses, and confidential information.

The same report said the Justice Ministry’s media office would record the session and release recordings after review and redaction of witnesses’ names and secret materials, while the session remained public for those present from the prosecution and public prosecutors.

Al-Jazeera Net said the judge charged Atef Najib with more than 10 charges, including murder, torture, and responsibility for the Political Security and Omari Mosque massacres, and it reported that 75 plaintiffs filed lawsuits against Najib and would testify in court.

“Damascus, May 10 (SANA)The second session in the trial of the defendant Atef Najib, a prominent figure in the deposed regime, began Sunday before the Fourth Criminal Court at the Palace of Justice in Damascus, focusing on questioning Najib and the presentation of charges by the prosecution”

سانا

The same outlet said the court held a closed session after an open session that lasted about an hour, while the judge requested that the session be closed in the presence of some secret witnesses.

SANA said the second session began Sunday before the Fourth Criminal Court at the Palace of Justice in Damascus, and it described the trial as part of a process that included the presence of members of the National Commission for Transitional Justice and representatives of international legal and humanitarian organizations.

The court set the tenth of the coming month as the date for the next session of Najib’s trial, and the العربي الجديد report said other defendants were expected in the coming days before the Criminal Court, including Wasim al-Assad and pilots accused of committing genocidal acts.