Aleppo, Oct. 15 (SANA) The Military Criminal Court in Aleppo issued rulings on Thursday against 10 defendants accused of committing violations during the coastal events, handing down death sentences and prison terms while acquitting two defendants.
Under the Code of Criminal Procedure, the General Penal Code, the Military Penal Code and the Anti-Torture Law, the court sentenced defendants al-Waddah Ismail and Maher Ali to death after convicting them of the felonies of assault intended to incite civil war and sectarian fighting, and assuming leadership of armed gangs.
The court also sentenced defendant Mohammad Bakour, a member of the Ministry of Defense, to 20 years in prison after convicting him of intentional homicide. Maher Othman was sentenced to 12 years in prison for involvement in acts of fighting and assault.
Defendant Ammar Abdul Aal, also a member of the Ministry of Defense, received a three-year prison sentence after being convicted of torture. Captain Shannan bin Mustafa and Khaled al-Hamid, both affiliated with the ministry, were each sentenced to two years in prison for involvement in torture. Al-Hamid received an additional two-month sentence for violating military orders.
The court sentenced Mahmoud Shaheen to two months in prison for causing injury, ruling that the sentence had already been served through his period of pretrial detention.
Two defendants acquitted for lack of evidence
The court acquitted Abdul Raouf Bakrjan and Mohammad Zarzouri, both members of the Ministry of Defense, of intentional homicide due to insufficient evidence.
Kamel Atli, head of the Aleppo branch of the Bar Association, told SANA’s correspondent that the session resulted in varying sentences, including death, acquittals and prison terms of different lengths. He said the proceedings were part of the continued public trials related to the coastal events.
Atli said a team of volunteer lawyers was defending several Ministry of Defense personnel, adding that hearings would continue until the cases of all defendants, including those who remain at large, had been considered in accordance with established legal procedures.
Lawyer Mazen Jumaa, representing defendant Mohammad Zarzouri, separately told SANA that the court had acquitted his client following its review of the case and the evidence presented. He added that the other defendants received varying sentences, ranging from death to prison terms, depending on the findings against each of them.
On Sept. 17, the court issued rulings against four defendants in the coastal violations case, sentencing one to death, another to life imprisonment and a third to 20 years in prison, while acquitting the fourth.
The latest rulings form part of the ongoing public trials concerning violations and crimes committed during the coastal events. The first hearings in the case began in November 2025.
On July 22, 2025, the National Committee for Investigation and Fact-Finding into the Coastal Events issued a report stating that remnants of the former regime had launched widespread attacks on army and security headquarters on March 6, 2025, killing 238 personnel.
The committee also documented violations against civilians in the following days. Its investigation found that these acts were not organized, but were committed by individuals and small groups for varying motives, and were individual and random in nature rather than part of a systematic pattern.
A/Dh – R.D / ABD
