The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus held the third session of Atef Najib’s trial on Tuesday, May 19, 2026. Najib was head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa governorate (southern Syria) when protests broke out in the governorate in 2011.

The session comes as part of the announced public trial process against former officials in the Syrian regime.

Syrian al-Ikhbariya broadcast part of the session, which was attended by legal and international organizations estimated at 21 organizations.

The Ministry of Justice broadcast a video clip showing the beginning of the session, before it was stopped during witness testimony, in a step similar to what happened in the second session, to maintain the confidentiality of information and protect witnesses.

Confrontation Session

The defendant, Atef Najib, appeared before the court in the presence of his lawyer, as Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan continued to manage the session as part of the interrogation and confrontation file.

During the session, the judge referred to the receipt of documents related to stripping the fugitive defendant Bashar Hafez al-Assad of civil rights, in addition to interdiction and rights stripping decisions against several fugitive defendants, foremost among them Maher Hafez al-Assad, along with other figures from the former regime.

The session also addressed questions linked to what was mentioned in the previous interrogation session, and the judge considered the current session a follow-up and confrontation of the defendant with the evidence and answers he had previously provided.

The session touched on events related to the protest movements in Daraa in 2011.

During his interrogation, Najib referred to internal disputes with the head of the National Security Bureau at the time, Hisham Bakhtiar, over how to deal with the protests.

He pointed to what he described as disputes over an “ambush” set for protesters coming from Daraa’s countryside, and the death of two people earlier.

Najib added that there were no organized meetings of the security committee after March 18, 2011.

What happened later consisted of immediate meetings that were not documented in official minutes, according to his account, noting that his opinion on the response mechanisms at the time was not taken into account.

Denial of Charges

Atef Najib had denied all charges against him of committing violations against residents of Daraa governorate, according to video footage from the proceedings of the second session of his trial broadcast by the Syrian Ministry of Justice on Saturday, May 16.

He denied that his branch carried out any arrests of the children who wrote political slogans against the regime on the walls of a school in Daraa.

The arrests, according to him, were carried out by the Military Security Branch.

He added during the interrogation that he intervened to mediate for the children’s release after contacting the head of the Military Security Branch, at the request of Daraa cleric Ahmed al-Sayasneh, but the response was that they had been transferred to the Palestine Branch.

Najib also accused the State Security Branch, Military Security, and Air Force Intelligence of shooting at protesters during the first protests in Daraa, which led to the death of two people, according to his account.

He said he refused demands from the head of the National Security Bureau at the time, Hisham Bakhtiar, to take part in suppressing the demonstrations, without specifying precise dates for the events, only referring to days of the week during March 2011.

In the same context, Najib denied several charges brought against him by the court based on testimonies from Daraa residents, or from people who were arrested during his tenure as head of the branch, affirming his innocence of arrests or shooting at protesters.

He said he had been sending reports to Damascus stating that the situation in Daraa was calm and did not require security or military solutions, according to his account.

In return, Najib accused other security branches of being behind the shooting of protesters.

He considered that this happened in the context of disputes among security agencies and attempts to implicate him, according to his statement.

He explained that he remained in his post for only a few days after the protests broke out, before being dismissed on March 22, 2011, noting that he did not perform any official duties after that date.

He also pointed out that the Political Security Branch did not have the authority to keep detainees for more than 24 hours without consulting the Political Security Division in Damascus.

No detainee deaths were recorded inside the branch during his time in charge, according to his statements

 

Atef Najib Denies Charges, Blames Security Branches