Syria sentences Assad-era top Muslim cleric to life in prison

Former grand mufti Ahmad Badreddine Hassoun, who served under the ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad, has been sentenced to life in prison by a Damascus court on August 24, 2026. The judge, Fakhreddine al-Aryan, stated that Hassoun had incited violence and justified murder during his tenure as mufti from 2005 to 2021, when the position was abolished.

The judge also noted that the Assad-era religious establishment had "justified the use of barrel bombs that targeted civilian areas and caused widespread destruction, which constitutes a violation of the rules of international humanitarian law."

Hassoun was present in the court during his sentencing. Other senior Assad-era officials, including Assad himself and his brother Maher, have recently been sentenced to death, many of them in absentia. While human rights groups have raised concerns about the alleged rushed and potentially unfair nature of the trials, many Syrians welcomed the sentences, expressing frustration that the new government was not taking stronger action against Assad-era figures.

The civil war in Syria, which began in 2011 and resulted in around half a million deaths and the displacement of more than half of the pre-war population of 23 million, ended with the overthrow of Assad by Islamist-led insurgents in December 2024.