Key Facts

• In 2013, Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan publicly left Assad’s regime and was sentenced to death without being present.
• After Assad’s regime fell in 2024, al-Aryan returned to the judiciary and was appointed head of a key criminal court in Damascus.
• Al-Aryan is leading the trial of Atef Najib, Assad’s cousin and former head of political security in Deraa, on charges including murder, torture, and crimes against humanity.
• Assad and his brother Maher are also on trial in absentia, having fled to Russia after their regime’s fall.
• Al-Aryan had worked with opposition judicial councils after defecting, helping establish courts in areas not controlled by Assad.
• Deraa, where Najib was a security chief, was the site of early protests and government repression that sparked the Syrian uprising.
• The trial aims to apply the rule of law to former regime members accused of human rights violations.
• Al-Aryan’s return symbolizes a shift in power and a focus on legal accountability following the end of Assad’s rule.