Inside the Coastal Incidents Trial – Assad’s Affiliates #10: Death Penalty, Life Imprisonment, and Acquittal

TRIAL OF THE COASTAL INCIDENTS

Military Criminal Court – Aleppo, Syria 

Trial Monitoring Summary #10 – Assad’s Affiliates 

Hearing Date: September 17, 2026

CAUTION: Some testimony may include graphic descriptions of torture, rape or other violent acts.

Note that this summary is not a verbatim transcript of the trial; it is merely an unofficial summary of the proceedings.    

Throughout this summary, [information located in brackets are notes from our trial monitor] and “information placed in quotes are statements made by the witness, Judges or counsel.” The names and identifying information of witnesses have been redacted.    

[Note: SJAC continues to provide a summary of the proceedings while redacting certain details to protect witness privacy and to preserve the integrity of the trial.]

[Note: Following the first session of the trial, in which all the Accused — both Assad regime’s and Government’s affiliates — appeared before the Court, the Accused were severed into two groups based on their affiliations. Therefore, the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre (SJAC) decided to separate the trial reports according to the Accused’s affiliations.]

SJAC’s 9th trial monitoring report details day 10 in the trial of Assad’s affiliates pertaining to the coastal incident, taking place in Aleppo, Syria. On this trial day, the Court issued judgments against three Accused. The first of which was life imprisonment following the conviction of the Accused for the felony of participation in an armed group. The second judgment was an acquittal for the other Accused. The last judgment was the execution of the third Accused following his conviction for the felony of participation in an armed gang that led to the killing of two persons.

Day 11 – July 17, 2026

The session commenced at 10:00AM.

In this session, the following judicial judgments were rendered against a number of the Accused:

The First Case:

Judgment Regarding the Accused Tahani S.

The Court decided to convict and charge the Accused Tahani S. with the felony of participation in an armed gang formed for the purpose of committing the felonies of murder, robbery, and looting, pursuant to Article 300 of the Penal Code read in conjunction with Article 299 of the same Code, and decided to sentence him to life imprisonment, crediting his period of detention as of September 16, 2025 toward his sentence, imposing civil interdiction and civil degradation upon him, and exempting him from the residential constraint measure [note: This refers to a penalty that prohibits the offender from residing in the place where the crime was committed for a period of time, such as exile or banishment from the location.]

The Court decided to acquit him of the felony of sedition and inciting civil war provided for in Article 298 of the General Penal Code due to a lack of evidence.

This judgment was rendered in person and subject to appeal before the Court of Cassation. Issued on September 17, 2026.

The Second Case:

Judgment Regarding the Accused Hasan H.

The Accused was asked whether he had Counsel, which he denied. An ad hoc court-appointed Counsel was assigned for him.

The Court decided unanimously to acquit the Accused Hasan H. of the felony of sedition, inciting civil war, leading an armed gang, participation in resisting public forces, and murder, due to a lack of evidence.

This judgment was rendered in person and subject to appeal before the Court of Cassation. Issued on September 17, 2026.

The Third Case:

Judgment Regarding the Accused Hadi Q.

The Accused appeared. An ad hoc court-appointed Counsel was assigned for him.

The Court decided to convict the Accused of the felony of assault intended to incite civil war, sectarian killing, arming Syrians against one another, and incitement to murder, looting, and participation in an armed gang established for the purpose of resisting public forces which resulted in the death of two or more persons, pursuant to the provisions of Articles 298, 299, and 300 of the General Penal Code. The following was decided:

• To sentence him for the offense of inciting sectarian war and sectarian fighting to life imprisonment.
• To sentence him for the felony of participation in an armed gang established for the purpose of confronting public forces which resulted in the death of two or more persons, and accordingly sentence him to execution by hanging until dead.
• To merge the two penalties and enforce the harsher penalty, which is the second [i.e., execution].
• To impose civil interdiction and civil degradation upon him.

This judgment was rendered in person and subject to appeal before the Court of Cassation. Issued on September 17, 2026.

The remaining Accused in the other cases concerning Assad affiliates were not brought, and their trials were adjourned to the session of September 24, 2026.

The proceedings were adjourned at 12:00PM.

The next trial day will be on September 24, 2026, at 10AM.

___________________________

For more information or to provide feedback, please contact SJAC at [email protected] and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to SJAC’s newsletter for updates on our work