Syria Sentences Former Grand Mufti Ahmad Hassoun to Life for Inciting Violence in 14-Year War
Updated
Updated · Al Jazeera English · Aug 20
Syria Sentences Former Grand Mufti Ahmad Hassoun to Life for Inciting Violence in 14-Year War
3 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · Aug 20
Summary
Damascus’s Fourth Criminal Court handed Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun a life sentence on Monday after convicting the former grand mufti of inciting hatred, justifying killings and abusing his office.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, arguing Hassoun’s sermons and public statements helped legitimize violence and worsen conditions during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war.
Hassoun, 77, was detained at Damascus airport in March 2025 after emerging from hiding following Bashar al-Assad’s fall in December 2024; his trial opened on June 25.
The former mufti, who served from 2005 to 2021, became a prominent Assad loyalist during the 2011 uprising and was accused of backing Russian and Iranian intervention and threatening opponents and refugees.
The ruling adds to a broader post-Assad judicial reckoning in Syria, where Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher and two cousins were recently sentenced to death in absentia.