Damascus, July 30 (SANA) The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus held on Thursday the fourth hearing in the trial of Ahmad Hassoun, who is accused of crimes including incitement to violence and justification of killings during the era of the ousted regime.
The hearing was chaired by Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan and attended by representatives of national and international human rights organizations. The court concluded the hearing and set August 6 as the date for the next session.
During the third hearing, held on July 23, the prosecution submitted its judicial memorandum and video clips containing evidence against the defendant, while the defense submitted a memorandum and requested a technical examination of the videos to verify their integrity and ensure they had not been altered.
Hassoun’s first hearing was held on June 25. He faces charges including exploiting his position as Grand Mufti of the Republic for personal interests and maintaining relations outside official duties with figures including Bashar al-Assad, Ali Mamlouk, senior army officers, and sectarian militia leaders.
The charges also include urging personnel and officers of the ousted regime’s army to support the regime, making statements inciting against civilians and refugees, particularly in eastern Aleppo and Idlib, and calling on the army to destroy those areas.
They further include publicly supporting, in his official and symbolic capacity as Grand Mufti of the Republic, figures accused of war crimes, including Issam Zahreddine and Qasem Soleimani, as well as supporting Russian and Iranian interventions in Syria despite violations and massacres committed by those forces and militias against Syrians.
The Syrian judiciary continues trials of those accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the era of the former regime as part of efforts to achieve transitional justice, uncover the truth, ensure justice for victims, and hold those responsible accountable in accordance with judicial procedures.
T.S /M.F
