Syria Opens First Public Trial of Assad-Era Official

Syria's transitional government opened the first public trial sessions for deposed regime officials in Damascus. Atef Najib — a cousin of Bashar al-Assad who headed the Daraa Political Security branch and is accused of ordering the torture of student protesters in 2011, an act widely cited as the spark for Syria's uprising — appeared before a Syrian court. President Ahmad al-Sharaa stressed that justice would be upheld by the Syrian state, not through extrajudicial revenge. The trial was seen as a landmark step for transitional accountability.