It was a frigid morning in Syria as 14 tracksuit-clad men were marched up the steps of Aleppo’s Palace of Justice under the watchful eye of Syria’s military police. These were the first men out of hundreds to be tried for a wave of violence that threatened to destabilise Syria’s fledgling new government in March.
They came in two groups. The first seven, with hands zip-tied and heads bowed, were loyalists with ties to the deposed regime of Bashar al-Assad. They had been accused of taking part in a violent uprising on the Syrian coast, which resulted in the deaths of 238 members of the government security services.
The second group, whose hands were notably untied – allowing them to hide their faces – were from the government security services themselves. They were here due to the alleged involvement in the grisly massacre of 1,400 individuals, mostly civilians from Syria’s minority Alawite sect, in the days after the government deployed them to quell the coastal rebellion.
Yet in a major step for a country that has suffered 13 ears of war and impunity, all 14 men, regardless of affiliation, were tried in a single court by a single judge in two consecutive sessions on Tuesday. They represent the first batch of over 563 suspects referred to the court by an independent investigative committee established by Syria’s president, Ahmad Al-Sharaa, in the days after the violence.
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These first sessions were largely procedural. The presiding judge, Zakaria Bakkour, listed each suspect’s personal details and the charges against them, which included inciting civil war and sectarian strife, murder and looting. He then inquired into the evidence against them gathered during a process of “military investigation”.
A common thread among those on trial was that all had been filmed during the events in question. At least three members of the government security services, who were filmed in front of the corpses of dead civilians, denied involvement in the killings themselves. Another claimed that the video that implicated him was, in fact, AI-generated.
Held in a large metal holding-cell to the side of the bench, the suspects answered with muffled voices to Bakkour’s stern questioning. Despite his severe demeanour, Bakkour offered each suspect the opportunity to rescind their initial testimony. Several did citing “mental pressure” applied to them during the investigatory process.
Amid the many lawyers, security officials and journalists were a scattering of families of the accused. One woman sat for much of the session with her head in her arms, sobbing next to her red-eyed husband, who quietly dabbed at his tears with a tissue. Their son, Mahmoud Shahin, had been accused of murder.
Ending Tuesday’s session, Bakkour set the date for the defence to plead their case on the 18th of December. Standing on the steps of the Palace of Justice, defence lawyer Rami Hanji, who represents several of the Assad loyalists as well as members of the government’s security services, told The Irish Times: “I have full confidence in the application of the law and that the final ruling of the judge will be just.”
For Hanji, Tuesday’s trials were a “message that the law applies to all without exception or discrimination.” The symbolism was clear – both those committing violations against the government and on its behalf will be held to account.
“As Syrians, we can be proud of what is happening today. This is the first time a public court session has been broadcast live for the whole country to see,” Hanji added.
Syria’s new government has been criticised for the lack of transparency in investigating the coastal massacres. Seemingly aware of the criticism – or perhaps genuinely hoping to break from Assad’s legacy of shadow trials – the government ensured that a well-packed press pool was present for the event.
For some like Bassam Alahmad, the founder of rights group Syrians for Truth and Justice, the proceedings don’t go far enough and instead “feel cosmetic – trials designed for public opinion.”
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However, the fundamental question remains: will Syria’s new government break from Assad’s legacy of judicial impunity? For that, the answer will come on Christmas Day, when the final verdict and sentencing are scheduled to take place.
