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 […]
This article was sourced from Middle East Monitor.
Read Full Article on Middle East Monitor →![Atef Najib, cousin of ousted regime leader Bashar al-Assad, stands behind the bars in a specially designated area of the courtroom during his trial at the Fourth Criminal Court in the Palace of Justice in Damascus, Syria, on April 26, 2026. [Izz Aldien Alqasem - Anadolu Agency]](https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/AA-20260426-41215065-41215055-TRIAL_OF_ASSADS_COUSIN_ATEF_NAJIB_BEGINS_IN_DAMASCUS-scaled-e1777201476885.jpg)
