"The Mufti of the Powder Kegs": Sentencing of a senior Assad regime official

The Criminal Court in Syria sentenced Ahmad Hassoun, who served as the Grand Mufti of Syria between 2005 and 2021, to life imprisonment today, Monday. Hassoun was tried on a long list of charges, including acts of violence and providing religious and political legitimacy to Bashar Assad and the murders committed under his regime.

This verdict was delivered after a total of six hearings in Hassoun's trial, which began last June. Hassoun is accused of exploiting his position as Grand Mufti of Syria for personal gain and to cultivate ties outside the scope of his duties with the ousted president Assad, as well as with senior military officials and militia commanders.

In addition, Hassoun is accused of inciting soldiers and officers in the Syrian army to support the regime and commit acts of violence against its opponents. He is accused of delivering sermons and statements in which he called for violence and the killing of civilians in areas that were under rebel control, and even violence against refugees who fled the regime.

The trial against Hassoun is the tenth in a series of trials opened against senior officials who served in the Assad regime. The ousted president himself also received a death sentence following crimes against humanity and war crimes he committed during the civil war. Last week, Waseem al-Assad, another senior official in the Assad regime, received a death sentence on charges of murder and abuse.

Another senior official expected to face trial is Adel Issa, a former general in the Syrian army who fled to Lebanon after the fall of the Assad regime and was extradited to Syria last week. This is the first time Lebanon has extradited to Syria a senior official who fled the Assad regime, after the Syrians submitted a list of more than two hundred former officials to be put on trial in June.