A Syrian court on Monday sentenced former Grand Mufti of Syria Ahmad Badr al-Din Hassoun to life imprisonment and ordered his assets confiscated in favor of the state treasury after convicting him of “crimes against humanity” and “war crimes” against the Syrian people during the rule of former President Bashar al-Assad.
اضافة اعلان
According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the verdict was issued during the sixth hearing of the trial before the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus.
Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan presided over the session, which was attended by members of the National Authority for Transitional Justice, as well as representatives of international legal and humanitarian organizations.
SANA quoted the judge as saying at the beginning of the hearing that evidence indicated the official religious establishment, headed by the Dar al-Ifta, had been used under the former regime to provide religious cover for military and security operations and justify them before the public.
The judge said the institution had also justified the use of barrel bombs against civilian areas, causing widespread destruction and constituting a violation of international humanitarian law.
