In Syria’s capital, Damascus, a court operating under the transitional justice framework sentenced Abdulnasir Braki to death for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Attorney Radif Mustafa, director of the Accountability and Reconciliation Administration at the Syrian National Transitional Justice Authority, said the ruling was issued Thursday by Syria’s 4th Heavy Criminal Court.
Crimes considered by the court
Mustafa said the court found Braki responsible for enforced disappearance, deprivation of liberty, complicity in intentional killing, torture resulting in death, looting by force and criminal defamation.
In assessing the nature and gravity of the acts, the court applied provisions of international law. The crimes were considered within the scope of war crimes and crimes against humanity, in line with the provision in the constitutional declaration, while Syrian national law was used to determine the sentence.
Seizure and sentencing decisions
The court combined the sentences for the crimes and imposed the most severe penalty, the death sentence. The ruling also ordered that the provisional seizure of Braki’s assets remain in place and be converted into an executory seizure.
Discretionary mitigating circumstances were not applied on the grounds of the scope and gravity of the crimes.
Transitional justice in Syria
The sentence was issued במסגרת the transitional justice process, which seeks to pursue through the courts violations said to have been committed against Syrians in recent years and to hold those responsible accountable.
Groups in Syria seized control across the country on December 8, 2024, ending the Baath Party’s 61-year rule. Fifty-three years of that period were under the rule of the Assad family.
