Overview
- Fourteen defendants appeared at Aleppo’s Palace of Justice as proceedings began on November 18 after a state-led inquiry into the March bloodshed.
- The group includes seven alleged loyalists of Bashar al‑Assad and seven members of the new security forces facing charges such as fomenting civil war, secession, premeditated murder and looting.
- A government commission and a Reuters investigation reported nearly 1,500 Alawites were killed between March 7 and 9, with the commission also counting 238 security personnel among the dead.
- Authorities say the violence followed a rebellion by former Assad‑loyalist officers that allegedly killed about 200 members of the security forces, prompting a brutal counter‑offensive.
- Officials describe the prosecution of security personnel as unprecedented and pledge transparent proceedings, as dozens of Syrian and foreign journalists attended the opening hearing.