DAMASCUS: A Damascus criminal court has heard testimony from prosecution witnesses during the second session of the trial of Ahmad Hassoun, Syria’s former grand mufti, who faces charges including inciting violence and justifying killings during the rule of the ousted Assad regime.
The Fourth Criminal Court hearing on Thursday was attended by representatives of Syrian and international human rights organizations and presided over by Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan, with advisers Abdul Hamid Mohammad al-Hammoud and Hossam Hussein Abdul Rahman. Public Prosecutor Judge Omar Mahmoud al-Radi represented the prosecution.
The court held its first session on June 25, when prosecutors formally presented the charges against Hassoun.
According to the indictment, Hassoun abused his position as grand mufti to advance personal interests and maintained unofficial ties with deposed President Bashar Assad, former intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, senior military officers and leaders of sectarian militias.
Prosecutors also accuse Hassoun of delivering speeches to officers and members of the former regime’s armed forces urging them to support military operations against opposition groups.
