A court in Damascus has sentenced Ahmad Badreddine Hassoun, the grand mufti during the rule of Bashar Assad, to life in prison. This was reported by infohub.kz.
The former grand mufti was known as a loyalist of Assad and openly supported the government's policies. He was found guilty of inciting violence and justifying murder. Hassoun held the position of mufti from 2005 to 2021, when the position was abolished.
Judge Fakhreddine al-Aryan, head of the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus, said that the official religious establishment under Assad's rule had "justified the use of barrel bombs that targeted civilian areas and caused widespread destruction, which constitutes a violation of the rules of international humanitarian law."
In recent weeks, several other senior Assad-era officials, including Assad himself and his brother Maher, have been sentenced to death, many in absentia. Hassoun was in custody and attended the court session.
Some human rights groups have expressed concerns that the trials are being rushed and may be unfair. However, many Syrians, who had previously expressed frustration that the new government was not acting quickly or strongly enough against Assad-era figures, welcomed the sentences.
Mass anti-government protests erupted in Syria in 2011 and were met with a brutal crackdown, spiraling into a nearly 14-year civil war that left about half a million people dead and displaced more than half of Syria's prewar population of 23 million.
The war ended with the ouster of Assad in a lightning offensive by Islamist-led insurgents in December 2024.