Inside the Coastal Incidents Trial – Government’s Affiliates #4: To Conduct or Not to Conduct an Expert Analysis

TRIAL OF THE COASTAL INCIDENTS

Military Criminal Court – Aleppo, Syria

Trial Monitoring Summary #4 – Government’s Affiliates

Hearing Date: June 18, 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 provides 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 Accused — both Assad and Government 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 4th trial monitoring report details day 8 in the trial of the government’s affiliates pertaining to the coastal incident, taking place in Aleppo, Syria. On this trial day, six Accused appeared before the Court. The proceedings were brief. The Court asked the Defense Counsel to clarify the Accused’s statements regarding the expert analysis. However, the Defense Counsel requested to disregard that matter.

Day 8 – June 18, 2026 

The trial proceedings began at 10:00 AM.

The First Case

The Accused, Basel M., was called. C9 [redacted name] was present with him as his Defense Counsel.

The Court decided to adjourn the session for review to July 16, 2026.

The Second Case

The Accused, Captain Mustafa S., Ammar A., Mohammad Z., Khaled M., and Mahmoud S. were called. Defense Counsel C9 [redacted name] appeared with them. The Accused Aburra’ouf A. was called. Counsel C10 [redacted name] appeared with him as his ad hoc court-appointed Defense Counsel.

The Court decided to task the Defense Counsel to clarify the Accused’s final statements regarding conducting a technical expert analysis on a video clip showing [some] of the Accused.

C9 requested to disregard conducting the expert analysis and reiterated his previous statements.

In response to the Judge’s inquiry, the Accused stated that they reiterate their previous statements.

The Prosecution stated that it reiterates its previous claim and requests judgment in accordance with the indictment.

The Court decided to adjourn the session for review to July 16, 2026.

The proceedings were adjourned at 12:00PM.

The next trial day will be on June 16, 2026, at 10AM.

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