Story
May 28, 2026
Syria Begins Trying Former Syrian Officials Involved in Torturing Citizens
Country:
The new government has opened its first war crimes trial.
The trial of Atef Najib began this month. He’s the cousin of deposed President Bashar al-Assad, and former head of political security in the province of Deraa, where it’s widely believed Syria’s civil war began.
Najib is charged with overseeing the arrest and torture of schoolchildren who had scrawled anti-regime slogans on a wall in 2011. From Syria, Deborah Amos reports.
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