First hearing begins in trial of former Syrian Grand Mufti Ahmed Hassoun

DAMASCUS, June 25 (YPA) – The first public hearing in the trial of the former Syrian Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmad Badr al-Din Hassoun, took place on Thursday at the Fourth Criminal Court in the Justice Palace in Damascus.

Hassoun faces charges of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity, incitement to murder and other offenses.

Hassoun, born in the city of Aleppo in 1949, is one of the religious figures who held the position of Grand Mufti of the Republic between 2005 and 2021, before the Baathist regime’s president Bashar al-Assad issued a decree abolishing the post as part of changes to the country’s official religious structure.

The trial comes one day after the start of proceedings against Wassim al-Assad, cousin of regime leader Bashar al-Assad, at the same court in the Justice Palace in Damascus.

@E.Y.M