Syria17 September, 20263 min read
Syrian Military Court In Aleppo Sentences Assad Supporters To Death And Life In Prison
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Aleppo military court sentenced two Assad supporters to death and life imprisonment. A former government forces member received twenty years in prison.
9 outlets told this the same way.
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First verdicts in Aleppo
A Syrian military court in Aleppo issued its first verdicts tied to mass killings in coastal areas last year, sentencing two supporters of the deposed government to death and life in prison and giving a former member of government forces a 20-year term while acquitting a fourth person. The Damascus Military Court in Aleppo, on Thursday, sentenced one defendant to death by hanging, the second to life imprisonment, the third to 20 years in prison, and acquitted the fourth, according to a Syria Now correspondent. The sentencing session began earlier on Thursday at the Military Court in the courthouse building in Aleppo, presided over by Judge Zakaria Bakar, the court president, with judicial authorities present, according to Syria Al-Youm channel.
The rulings were issued in a judicial process launched last November, when 14 people were accused of involvement in the mass killings, and further verdicts were expected next week. The coastal violence followed attacks on the new government’s security forces by armed groups aligned with Assad, and counterattacks soon spiraled out of control targeting civilians in the coastal regions.
Competing death tolls
The National Commission of Inquiry said it had verified serious violations leading to the deaths of at least 1,426 mostly civilians and identified 298 suspects, while also reporting that 238 members of the security forces and army were killed in attacks attributed to al-Assad’s supporters. A UN investigation, however, found that violence targeting civilians by government-aligned factions had been “widespread and systematic,” and said homes in Alawite-majority areas were raided and civilians were asked “whether they were Sunni or Alawite.” The UN commission reported that “Alawite men and boys were then taken away to be executed,” and the court’s first verdicts came as the process continued with additional defendants expected to be ruled on later.
Al Jazeera also reported that the sentences were issued after public hearings to examine evidence and consider arguments presented by the defendants, with the court holding several public hearings since the process began last November. In parallel, EFE reported that the Thursday session addressed four of the seven defendants whose cases were being reviewed, with judgments for the other three still pending and expected later.
What happens next
The court’s Thursday rulings were part of a wider effort by Syria’s post-Assad authorities to investigate violence committed during the country’s transition after the fall of Assad’s government, with additional verdicts expected next week. Syria Now said the courthouse had held about nine trial sessions against those involved in violations in the events of the Syrian coast since it began on November 18, 2025, including trials of 14 individuals and hearings based on files and conversations found on mobile devices owned by detainees. President Ahmed al-Ashrin announced the formation of a committee to uncover the causes, circumstances, and details that led to these events and to investigate violations suffered by civilians and identify those responsible, and he received in July last year the final report of the National Commission for Investigation and Fact-Finding.
The National Commission of Inquiry said it had documented 1,426 deaths and identified 298 suspects in a report published in July, while an independent UN-mandated commission put the number of victims at around 1,400, mostly civilians, according to EFE. The judgments handed down on Thursday were described as the first known judicial sentences related to the sectarian violence that shook the Syrian coast in March 2025, with the remaining defendants’ outcomes still pending.