Atef Najib faces at least 10 charges in landmark Syria trial

Atef Najib, the former head of political security in southern Syria’s Deraa province, appeared in the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus on Sunday in a cage and wearing a striped prison uniform.

He is accused of overseeing a violent crackdown on antigovernment protesters in Deraa during the 2011 uprising, which sparked Syria’s 14-year civil war. Al Jazeera Mubasher’s correspondent said 75 plaintiffs have filed cases against Najib and are expected to give testimony in court.

Attending the session were relatives of victims, members of the National Transitional Justice Commission and representatives of international legal and humanitarian organisations. After an open session lasting about an hour, the court entered a closed session for the protection of some witnesses.

Najib first appeared in court on April 26 for a preparatory session, but Sunday was the first substantive day of his trial. The proceedings mark the first effort in Syria to bring Assad-era officials to justice.

Al-Assad and his brother Maher, former commander of the Syrian military’s 4th Armoured Division, are being tried in absentia. Al-Assad fled to Russia in December 2024, and most members of his inner circle have also escaped Syria.

The government of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has faced criticism over delays in launching a promised transitional justice process after the war, in which an estimated half a million people were killed. But authorities now appear to be moving more aggressively to prosecute officials linked to al-Assad.

Najib oversaw political security in Deraa when teenagers who scrawled antigovernment graffiti on a school wall were arrested and tortured. The case became a catalyst for a broader uprising.

The Ministry of Interior’s General Security forces arrested Najib in January 2025 during a security campaign targeting remnants of the former government in Latakia province. His arrest was considered one of the most significant detentions of former security officials because he held a sensitive security position in Deraa at the beginning of the Syrian uprising.