Syrian court sentences three linked to coastal violence

Former member of gov’t forces sentenced to 20 years, as two Assad supporters receive death sentence and life in prison.

People attend the first trial of more than a dozen suspects linked to mass killings that left hundreds dead in Syria's Alawite coastal heartland earlier , at the Justice Palace in Aleppo on November 18, 2025. [File: AFP]

A Syrian court has issued its first verdicts linked to mass killings in coastal areas last year, with two supporters of the deposed government receiving a death sentence and life in prison, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

The military criminal court in Aleppo on Thursday also sentenced a former member of government forces to 20 years in prison, while a fourth person was acquitted.

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The sentences are the first in a judicial process launched last November , when 14 people were accused of involvement in the mass killings. The court has held several public hearings to examine evidence and consider arguments presented by the defendants. Further verdicts are expected next week.

Hundreds of people from the Alawite religious minority, to which ousted President Bashar al-Assad belongs, were killed last March.

The mass killings followed attacks on the new government’s security forces by armed groups aligned with Assad. Counterattacks soon spiralled out of control, targeting civilians in the coastal regions.

The National Commission of Inquiry said last year that it had verified serious violations leading to the deaths of at least 1,426 mostly civilians and identified 298 suspects.

It said that 238 members of the security forces and army had been killed in attacks attributed to al-Assad’s supporters. The commission estimated that authorities sent 200,000 fighters as reinforcements to the region.

The violations were individual and indiscriminate in nature, rather than organised or part of a systematic pattern, according to the commission.

However, a United Nations investigation found that violence targeting civilians by government-aligned factions had been “widespread and systematic”.

A UN commission said that during the killings, homes in Alawite-majority areas were raided and civilians were asked “whether they were Sunni or Alawite”.

“Alawite men and boys were then taken away to be executed,” it said.

一名前政府军成员被判处 20 年监禁，两名阿萨德支持者被判处死刑和终身监禁。

2025年11月18日，在阿勒颇司法宫，人们旁听了十几名与叙利亚阿拉维派沿海腹地大规模屠杀事件有关的嫌疑人的首次庭审，该事件造成数百人死亡。[图片：法新社]

据叙利亚阿拉伯通讯社（SANA）报道，叙利亚一家法院就去年沿海地区的大规模屠杀事件作出了首批判决，两名被推翻政府的支持者分别被判处死刑和终身监禁。

周四，阿勒颇军事刑事法庭判处一名前政府军成员 20 年监禁，而第四名被告被判无罪。

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这是自去年11月启动司法程序以来的首批判决。当时，14人被指控参与了这起大规模屠杀事件。法院已举行多次公开听证会，审查证据并听取被告提出的辩护理由。预计下周将作出更多判决。

去年三月，数百名阿拉维派宗教少数群体成员被杀害，被罢黜的总统巴沙尔·阿萨德就属于该宗教少数群体。

在阿萨德政权支持的武装团体袭击新政府安全部队后，发生了大规模屠杀。随后，反击很快失控，沿海地区的平民也成为攻击目标。

国家调查委员会去年表示，已核实导致至少 1426 人死亡（其中大部分是平民）的严重侵犯人权行为，并确定了 298 名嫌疑人。

报告称，在归咎于阿萨德支持者的袭击中，有238名安全部队和军队成员丧生。该委员会估计，当局已向该地区增派了20万名武装人员。

委员会认为，这些违规行为是个别且无差别的，而不是有组织的或系统性模式的一部分。

然而，联合国的一项调查发现，与政府结盟的派别针对平民的暴力行为“普遍且有系统”。

联合国一个委员会表示，在屠杀期间，阿拉维派占多数地区的房屋遭到突袭，平民被问及“他们是逊尼派还是阿拉维派”。

报道称，“阿拉维派男子和男孩随后被带走处决。”