First Syria trial of suspects in coastal massacres begins

By AFP 18 November 2025, 12:51 pm

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A member of the Syrian forces stands on a vehicle during deadly violence in which some 1,500 members of Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect were killed, in Latakia, Syria, March 7, 2025. (Karam al-Masri/Reuters)

The first trial of more than a dozen suspects linked to massacres that left hundreds dead in Syria’s Alawite coastal heartland earlier this year begins today.

The massacres in March, which authorities say broke out after attacks by supporters of ousted president Bashar al-Assad against their forces, left at least 1,426 people dead, most of them civilians, according to a national commission of inquiry.

Seven men, including former military personnel, accused of attacking government forces, and seven members of the forces loyal to the new Islamist authorities, appear in court.

“The court is sovereign and independent,” says judge Zakaria Bakkar as the trial opens in northern Syria’s Aleppo.

Assad’s supporters are being prosecuted for “sedition, incitement to civil war… attacks against law enforcement, murder, looting, and vandalism,” according to the indictment.

The seven accused from government forces are being prosecuted for “premeditated murder.”