Syria opens trial of Wassim al-Assad, cousin of ousted president: What we know
The trial follows another session in the case against Atef Najib, also a cousin of former President Bashar al-Assad, as Syrian authorities continue prosecuting figures linked to the former regime and its remnants.
A criminal court in Syria’s capital, Damascus, began judicial proceedings on Wednesday against Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. He was arrested a year ago as part of the Syrian authorities’ campaign against former regime remnants and officials accused of various crimes against civilians.
What happened: Wassim appeared before the Fourth Criminal Court, which specializes in transitional justice cases involving drug trafficking, kidnapping, torture, and crimes against the Syrian people during the former Assad regime.
The Syrian Ministry of Justice broadcast the public trial via live stream on its social media platforms for a few minutes before ending the stream to protect witness testimony.
رئيس محكمة الجنايات الرابعة يتلو التهم الموجهة إلى "وسيم الأسد" والتي تضمنت تشكيل مجموعات عسكرية والمشاركة بعمليات عسكرية ضد مناطق مدنية#متداول pic.twitter.com/2VI1nqphrw
— سوريا الآن - أخبار (@AJSyriaNowN) June 24, 2026
The judge presiding over the session read out the charges against Wassim, saying they amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity. He is accused of forming and leading armed groups at the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011 under the supervision of the former Syrian military’s elite Fourth Division, which was headed by Maher al-Assad, the younger brother of the ousted president.
