Syrian military courts handed down initial sentences on September 17, 2026, against four defendants tied to sectarian violence in the coastal region. The rulings by the military court in Aleppo include a death sentence, a life term, a 20-year prison sentence, and one acquittal, stemming from unrest that began in March 2025.
Military Court Rulings and Sentences in Aleppo
The military court in Aleppo issued verdicts for four individuals involved in the March 2025 coastal violence during a hearing at the city’s Palace of Justice, according to reporting from regional outlets. Presiding Judge Zakaria Bakar announced the decisions on September 17, 2026, marking the conclusion of the first batch of verdicts in a multi-defendant case that began hearings in November 2025.
The judicial panel prosecuted 14 individuals across approximately nine sessions. That group is split evenly between seven loyalists or former military personnel linked to the former regime and seven members of the Ministry of Defense under the transitional authorities, as detailed by regional coverage. Thursday’s rulings addressed four of those defendants.
Charges and Specific Legal Counts Against the Defendants
Judge Bakar detailed the specific criminal counts during the session. One defendant, identified as Hadi Qablan, received a sentence of death by hanging, along with civil disenfranchisement and an order to pay expenses, for crimes including the attack aimed at instigating civil war and sectarian fighting, and participation in an armed gang with the intent to confront public forces resulting in the death of more than two people.
A second defendant was convicted of the felony of participating in an armed gang tasked with committing felonies of murder, robbery, and looting, resulting in a life imprisonment sentence. A third defendant, an element within the Ministry of Defense, was convicted of intentional homicide and sentenced to 20 years in prison, with the period of pre-trial detention taken into calculation. The fourth defendant brought before the court was acquitted.
Origins of the March 2025 Coastal Unrest
The trials trace back to violent clashes that erupted in the Syrian coast on March 6, 2025, lasting over three days. According to investigations, the violence began when armed groups of former regime remnants launched attacks on government security and military checkpoints, resulting in dead and wounded personnel. In response to the crisis, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced the formation of a committee to uncover the causes, circumstances, and incidents surrounding the events, as well as to investigate violations against civilians and identify those responsible.
The National Commission for Inquiry and Fact-Finding into the Coastal Events submitted its final report to President al-Sharaa in July 2025 following field visits to the countryside of Latakia and Tartus and hundreds of collected testimonies. The report stated that remnants of the former regime carried out broad attacks on army and security headquarters on March 6, 2025, which killed 238 personnel. The commission additionally recorded violations in subsequent days targeting civilians, noting that investigations showed these acts were not organized but rather committed by individuals and small groups with varying motives, characterized by individual and random behavior rather than a systematic pattern.
Casualties and Ongoing Judicial Proceedings
The commission’s July 2025 findings indicated it had identified 298 individuals suspected of involvement in violence against the Alawite minority, verifying grave violations
that led to the documented deaths of 1,426 Alawites, alongside 238 members of the general security and army. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights stated that the overall violence in the Syrian coast left approximately 1,700 dead, the overwhelming majority of whom were Alawites.
Public trials for the accused commenced on November 18, 2025, at the Palace of Justice in Aleppo in the presence of victims’ families and relevant judicial authorities, utilizing files and communications found on the defendants’ mobile devices. Following the initial verdicts delivered on September 17, 2026, against three former regime loyalists and one Ministry of Defense member, additional court sessions are scheduled to continue addressing the remaining defendants sequentially.
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