Overview
- The court in Damascus read charges Sunday that name Atif Najib as responsible for orders to kill, arrest, and torture protesters, the judge said.
- Parts of the hearing aired on television, and a packed gallery shouted at Najib, prompting lawyers to question courtroom order and basic due process.
- Najib, a cousin of Bashar al-Assad and the former security chief in Daraa, is accused of leading the 2011 crackdown after schoolboys were detained for graffiti as families in the province recall torture and killings.
- This is the first public case against a senior Assad-era figure since HTS forces seized Damascus on December 8, 2024, and Assad fled to Russia under the new HTS-led transitional government.
- Rights groups and legal experts warn Syria’s courts have little experience with such crimes and note domestic law lacks a crimes‑against‑humanity statute, which could limit how a verdict recognizes the scale of abuses.