For the first time since the fall of Assad: Lebanon extradited a Syrian general to Damascus
General Adel Issa, a former division commander in the Syrian army, was handed over to Syrian authorities after being arrested in Lebanon. He is suspected, among other things, of murder and torture that led to death.
Lebanese authorities handed over a former high-ranking officer in the Syrian army to Damascus today, Wednesday, to stand trial on charges including murder and torture, the Syrian Interior Ministry said. This is the first transfer of a military officer from the era of former President Bashar al-Assad's rule from Lebanon to Syria since Assad's ouster in 2024.
General Adel Issa, former commander of the 17th Division in the Syrian army and later commander of ground forces in the Deir ez-Zor province in the east of the country, was handed over to Syrian authorities after Lebanese authorities arrested him earlier this month.
According to the Syrian Interior Ministry, Issa was wanted under an arrest warrant on suspicions including premeditated murder, aiding and abetting a crime, killing more than two people, torture leading to death, and crimes intended to incite civil war and sectarian conflict.
Issa's case has now been transferred to an investigating judge in Damascus before it can be referred to a criminal court for trial, the Interior Ministry added.
