Damascus, Oct 15. (dpa/GNA) – A Syrian court on Thursday sentenced two suspected supporters of former president Bashar al-Assad to death over their alleged involvement in violence that left hundreds dead, including many civilians, last year.
The sentences were handed down by a military criminal court in the northern city of Aleppo, in connection with unrest that rocked Syria’s coastal region in March 2025, state media reported.
The area is a stronghold of the Alawite religious minority, to which al-Assad belongs. Both defendants were found guilty of leading armed groups that carried out attacks aimed at inciting civil war and sectarian violence, Syria’s state news agency SANA reported.
The court also handed down prison sentences of varying lengths to several Syrian army personnel in the same case. One of them was given 20 years in prison on charges of intentional homicide, according to the Syrian state news television al-Ekhbariya.
Two other army personnel were acquitted due to lack of evidence, the broadcaster added.
In March 2025, al-Assad loyalists were accused of ambushing security forces affiliated with Syria’s new government, which took power following his ouster in late 2024.
The attacks triggered a large-scale government military operation that spiralled into widespread sectarian violence. A Syrian national commission investigating the unrest previously reported documenting 1,426 deaths, including 90 women.
Many of those killed were Alawites, according to human rights groups. In response to Thursday’s verdicts, a Syrian rights watchdog called for administering impartial justice, warning against “selective” accountability. “Justice cannot be achieved by holding one side accountable while ignoring another,” the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“It is essential to pursue all those found responsible for these violations, regardless of their positions or affiliations to ensure justice for the victims and their families, and to prevent impunity or the deepening of social divisions,” the monitor added.
Last month, the court sentenced another defendant to death in the same case. However, execution verdicts have not been carried out in Syria since al-Assad’s ouster in late 2024.
GNA