Syria's new rulers arrest official behind Saydnaya death penalties
Syria's new government has detained military justice official Mohammed Kanjo Hassan, who issued death sentences at Saydnaya prison under ousted president Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed Thursday. His arrest follows deadly clashes in Tartus, an Assad stronghold, as gunmen sought to protect him.
Syria's new authorities have arrested a military justice official who under ousted president Bashar al-Assad issued death sentences for detainees in the notorious Saydnaya prison, a war monitor said Thursday.
The confirmation by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights of his detention came a day after deadly clashes erupted in the coastal province of Tartus, an Assad stronghold, when gunmen sought to protect him.
Mohammed Kanjo Hassan is the highest-ranking officer whose arrest has been announced since Assad's ousting on December 8.
Assad fled for Russia after an Islamist-led offensive wrested from his control city after city until Damascus fell, ending his clan's five-decade rule and sparking celebrations in Syria and beyond.
The offensive caught Assad and his inner circle by surprise and while fleeing the country he took with him only a handful of confidants.
Many others were left behind, including his brother Maher al-Assad, who according to a Syrian military source fled to Iraq before heading to Russia.
Other collaborators were believed to have taken refuge in their hometowns in Alawite regions that were once a stronghold of the Assad clan.
Thousands of death sentences
"There is a lot of fear," he said.
(AFP)
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