📰 First Public Trial Session for Coastal Violations Concludes in Aleppo

In a landmark moment for syria-seizes-massive-captagon-and-hashish-shipment-in-central-desert/" class="smart-internal-link" title="📰 Syria seizes massive captagon and hashish shipment in central desert">syria/" class="auto-internal-link">syria’s emerging judicial reckoning, the inaugural public session of trials concerning severe violations committed during the March 2025 coastal unrest concluded at noon on Tuesday at Aleppo’s Palace of Justice. Furthermore, it marks the first occasion on which individuals linked to state institutions have appeared in open court for such offences. Fourteen defendants stood before the bench, including former regime loyalists and current personnel from the Ministry of Defence. The presiding judge affirmed that proceedings would remain strictly national, impartial and independent, governed exclusively by the provisions of the syrian/" class="auto-internal-link">syrian Penal Code. The charges include incitement to sedition, fomenting civil war, leading armed gangs, assaults on public troops, murder, looting and deliberate destruction.

The court adjourned further hearings until 18 and 25 December to allow investigations and interrogations to continue. In fact, no verdicts were delivered during Tuesday’s session, which commenced at 9:30 a. m. and focused on the preliminary statements of the accused. Background of the Coastal Atrocities The Syrian coast witnessed multiple days of intense hostilities in March 2025, when armed loyalists of the deposed regime launched attacks on administration security troops. Although state troops regained control through a sweeping operation involving irregular factions, the campaign was accompanied by widespread abuses: extrajudicial killings of civilians, looting and the burning of private property. The Syrian Network for Human Rights documented 1,662 deaths between 6 March and 16 April 2025.

In response, leader Ahmed al-Sharaa established a National Commission of Inquiry. On 22 July, the commission submitted its findings to the leader and verified that 563 suspects — 298 accused of attacks on civilians and 265 of assaults on security personnel — had been referred to the judiciary. All upcoming trials, the commission stated, would be held publicly. Notably, a Significant Yet Imperfect Step Toward Accountability Fadel Abdul Ghani, director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights, described Tuesday’s proceedings as a severe step along the path to accountability and a clear signal of change in the handling of violations. Speaking to Syria Television, he noted that, because the crimes occurred under the current authorities, the process of acknowledgement, independent investigation and now open trial sends a powerful message to Syrian society that impunity is no longer guaranteed.

However, Abdul Ghani cautioned that these trials do not yet represent transitional justice in its full sense. Syria, still emerging from prolonged crisis, needs time to reform its state institutions, especially the…