Assad Cousin Atef Najib Appears in Court in Damascus on Charges of Murder and Torture

Atef Najib, a cousin of former President Bashar al-Assad and a brigadier general who served as the former head of the Political Security Department in Deraa, appeared in a cage and wearing a striped prison uniform at the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus on 10 May 2026.

The session marked the second hearing overall and the first substantive day of his trial on at least 10 charges that include murder, torture and responsibility for massacres. Najib oversaw political security in Deraa when teenagers who scrawled antigovernment graffiti on a school wall were arrested and tortured, an incident that became a catalyst for the broader uprising.

Al Jazeera reported that 75 plaintiffs have filed cases against Najib and are expected to give testimony in court. Relatives of victims, members of the National Transitional Justice Commission and representatives of international legal and humanitarian organisations attended the open session, which lasted about one hour.

The court then entered a closed session for the protection of some witnesses.

Najib first appeared in court on 26 April 2026 for a preparatory session. The Ministry of Interior’s General Security forces arrested him in January 2025 in Latakia province during a security campaign targeting remnants of the former government. His detention was one of the most significant of former security officials given his sensitive position in Deraa at the beginning of the Syrian uprising.

The proceedings are the first effort in Syria to bring Assad-era officials to justice. Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher are being tried in absentia. Al-Assad fled to Russia in December 2024, and most members of his inner circle have also escaped Syria.

The government of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has faced criticism over delays in launching a promised transitional justice process after the war, in which an estimated half a million people were killed. Authorities now appear to be moving more aggressively to prosecute officials linked to al-Assad.

Najib is accused of overseeing a violent crackdown on antigovernment protesters in Deraa during the 2011 uprising, which sparked Syria’s 14-year civil war.