The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) released a comprehensive report on Monday, October 26, on the trials of Atef Najib, Wassim Badie al-Assad, and Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun before the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus, covering each trial from its third session to the verdicts issued on August 11, 18, and 24, 2026 respectively. The court sentenced Najib and al-Assad to death, and Hassoun to life imprisonment; the three verdicts were issued in the presence of the accused and remain subject to appeal before the Court of Cassation, SNHR said.

Source: SNHR report, Oct 26

SNHR documented a number of procedural guarantees during the sessions it monitored, and also observed issues that call for further scrutiny, related to the publicity of the sessions, the timing of enabling the defense to access the technical expert report, and the guarantees associated with the measures of concealing the identity of witnesses, the report said. SNHR stressed that it does not undertake to adjudicate the criminal responsibility of the accused, and that presenting the verdicts does not mean it adopts the court's assessment of the evidence, its legal classification of the acts, or the penalties imposed.

Source: SNHR report, Oct 26

What the court found in each case

Najib's case concerned Daraa governorate from March 2011, when he headed the Political Security Branch there. The court heard dozens of witnesses on the arrest of children over writings on walls and their alleged subjection to torture, shooting at demonstrators, the al-Omari Mosque events and the chain of command linking Daraa's security branches to Damascus; Najib rejected all prosecution testimonies against him. The court convicted him of intentional killing, the killing of children under fifteen, incitement to killing, torture leading to death and deprivation of liberty, classified as crimes against humanity, and sentenced him to death, SNHR reported.

Source: SNHR report, Oct 26

In Wassim al-Assad's case, the court concluded he formed and supervised two groups of auxiliary fighters deployed in the Mleiha area of Eastern Ghouta between approximately 2012 and 2014, and sentenced him to death for premeditated murder, killing accompanied by torture and brutality, and deprivation of liberty and torture. It acquitted him of drug smuggling and trafficking due to insufficient evidence, and referred a copy of the verdict to the National Commission for Missing Persons regarding remains reported buried in the orchards of Mleiha in 2012, SNHR reported.

Source: SNHR report, Oct 26

Hassoun, the former Grand Mufti, faced charges including incitement to violence and killing and stirring sectarian fighting; his case rested mainly on audiovisual recordings, which a three-expert panel found were excerpts from original materials whose excerpting did not affect their probative value. Hassoun denied issuing any fatwa calling for killing. The court convicted him of an attack aimed at inciting civil war and sectarian fighting, incitement to intentional killing and principal complicity in intentional killing, and sentenced him to life imprisonment with no benefit from amnesty or conditional release, whereas the prosecution had requested death, SNHR reported.

Source: SNHR report, Oct 26

Guarantees recorded — and the gaps

Among the guarantees SNHR recorded: the accused were represented by lawyers throughout, including a court-appointed lawyer for al-Assad; defence lawyers submitted memoranda and motions; each accused could respond to testimonies and make a final statement; and the court granted requests for medical and technical expert examinations. But publicity was uneven — in several Najib sessions media coverage was limited to outlets affiliated with the Ministry of Justice, and in al-Assad's trial the court closed one session when prosecution witnesses began testifying. In Hassoun's case, the defence lawyer stated at the concluding stage that he had not received the technical expert report; SNHR said that statement alone is not sufficient evidence of a defence-rights violation, since its significance depends on when the report was made available and how much time the defence had to study and challenge it.

Source: SNHR report, Oct 26

Levant24 reported on October 25 that Judge Fakhruddin al-Arian, head of the Fourth Criminal Court, told SANA on October 22 the court is considering approximately 61 cases and has issued rulings in four, and that Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher received death sentences in absentia on August 11 alongside six other former officials, with the files sent to Interpol to pursue the fugitive defendants. SNHR's recommendations include publishing the full reasoned verdicts, guaranteeing the publicity of sessions, enabling the defence to access evidence and expert reports in a timely manner, adopting clear procedures for verifying digital evidence, and making the appeal stage available for independent monitoring.

Source: Levant24, Oct 25; SNHR report, Oct 26