Damascus Criminal Court holds third hearing in trial of Ahmad Hassoun

Damascus, July 23 (SANA) The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus held its third hearing on Thursday in the trial of Ahmad Hassoun, who is accused of inciting violence and justifying killings during the rule of the deposed regime.

The hearing was presided over by Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan, with representatives from national and international human rights organizations in attendance.

At the conclusion of the session, the court set July 30 as the date for the next hearing.

The second hearing in Hassoun’s trial was held on July 16 to hear testimony from prosecution witnesses.

In the first session on June 25, prosecutors formally presented charges against Hassoun. According to the indictment, he abused his position as Grand Mufti to advance personal interests and maintained unofficial ties with deposed Bashar Assad, former intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, senior military officers and leaders of sectarian militias.

Prosecutors also accuse Hassoun of delivering speeches to officers and members of the deposed regime’s armed forces urging them to support military operations against opposition groups. The indictment alleges that he made public statements inciting violence against civilians in opposition-held areas and refugees who fled the deposed regime’s repression, particularly in eastern Aleppo and Idlib, and called on the deposed regime’s forces to destroy those areas.

Hassoun is also accused of publicly endorsing military commanders and figures accused of war crimes, including Issam Zahreddine and Qassem Soleimani, as well as supporting the Russian and Iranian military interventions in Syria despite widespread violations committed by their forces and allied militias.

Under Syrian law, Hassoun also faces charges including incitement to intentional killing, complicity in homicide, participation in acts aimed at provoking civil war and sectarian conflict, incitement of sectarian and racial hatred, and abuse of influence for personal gain.

The proceedings form part of Syria’s transitional justice process, which aims to establish the truth, deliver justice for victims and hold those accused of crimes accountable through judicial proceedings.