Atef Najib, a cousin of ousted President Bashar al-Assad and former political security chief in Syria’s Daraa city, appeared on Sunday before the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus, Al-Ikhbariya television reported, Anadolu reports.
The outlet broadcast video footage showing Najib in the defendant’s cage, after he had been brought to the court in the Syrian capital.
“The first trials of transitional justice in Syria include a detainee (Atef Najib) and defendants who are fugitives from justice,” the channel quoted an unnamed judge in the court as saying.
Among those fugitives were Assad, his brother and commander of the notorious Fourth Division Maher Assad , former Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij, former military intelligence chief in Daraa Laith al-Ali, and former military intelligence chief in Suwayda province Wafiq Nasser.
The judge announced the adjournment of the session until May 10.
Najib, who was arrested in January last year, graduated from the Military Academy before joining the intelligence services, where he held various positions, including the Political Security Branch in Daraa.
He is accused of being one of the first to carry out violations against civilians in Daraa, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising.
He is also blamed for the arrest and torture of children in Daraa who had written anti-regime slogans on walls, an incident that sparked initial protests in Syria.
In December 2024, Assad, who ruled Syria for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia, bringing an end to the Baath Party’s decades of rule that began in 1963. A transitional administration led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa was formed in January 2025.
