The first trial session of Atef Najib, the former head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa (southern Syria), began on Sunday, April 26, at the Palace of Justice in Damascus, while the judge brought charges against several figures from the Assad regime, led by Bashar al-Assad, to be tried in absentia.
The Criminal Court opened its first session to examine the charges against Atef Najib, amid broad legal and media attention.
Before suspending the session, the court panel called for the second time the names of the defendants listed and recorded their absence in the session minutes.
The names included:
The head of the court panel confirmed that the notification warrants for the defendants had been “duly served” at their last place of residence, and that when they were called again, they did not appear.
Accordingly, the Fourth Criminal Court panel in Damascus decided to issue deadline decisions for the absent defendants and to notify them duly under the provisions of “Article 322” of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
The court decided to suspend the session until Sunday, May 10, while renewing notifications against defendants who are in hiding.
The sessions will include a review of files related to security violations, arrests, and practices connected to the management of the security file in Daraa during the first years of the revolution.
According to Enab Baladi’s correspondent inside the courtroom, several lawyers and human rights defenders attended alongside victims’ relatives, in the first trial session announced by the Syrian government as part of the process of holding officials of former President Bashar al-Assad’s regime accountable.
The session was also attended by the attorney general of the republic and the first public attorney in Damascus, alongside representatives of the Transitional Justice Commission, as well as Arab delegations who came to follow the proceedings of the first announced trials within the accountability process for officials of the former regime.
Syrian Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais had said on the platform “X” that the first trials of the “henchmen of the defunct regime” would begin with the file of the Daraa events.
He considered that they do not merely represent ordinary trials, but form part of a broader path to reveal the truth and preserve memory.
Al-Wais added that the choice of Daraa carries both symbolic and judicial significance.
Since the beginning was in Daraa, the cradle of the revolution, justice requires that the specialized judicial path for transitional justice also begin there.
Who Is Atef Najib
Atef Najib is Bashar al-Assad’s maternal cousin. He moved between several Political Security branches in Damascus and Tartus before eventually becoming head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa before the outbreak of the revolution.
Najib became widely known in 2011 after protests that formed the spark of the revolution, which continued in different forms for about 14 years in Syria. The protests began after a group of children in Daraa were arrested for writing slogans on walls that addressed Bashar al-Assad and suggested that change was also coming to Syria, including the phrase, “It’s your turn, doctor.”
After the children were detained, Daraa dignitaries demanded their release, but Atef Najib responded with insults, threats, and violations of their dignity and honor.
In a failed attempt to contain the situation, Bashar al-Assad formed an investigation committee in Daraa. He did not dismiss Atef Najib from his post, but transferred him to the Political Security Branch in Idlib (northwestern Syria). On June 13, 2011, the investigation committee issued a decision banning Najib and the then-governor of Daraa, Faisal Kalthoum, from travel.
Atef Najib has been on the US sanctions list since April 29, 2011, and on European sanctions lists since May 9, 2011.
Assad’s limited moves regarding his relative did not calm public anger in Daraa. Demonstrations continued, and Assad chose a military crackdown. Tanks entered the streets of Daraa, and the army responded to protesters with live fire, causing the popular movement to spread to various Syrian governorates and eventually leading to Assad’s overthrow on December 8, 2024.
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