Syria sentences two people to death over 2025 coastal violence

A Syrian military court on Thursday sentenced two people to death and a third to 12 years in prison over their alleged involvement in deadly violence in the country’s coastal region in March 2025, state media reported.

The Military Criminal Court in Aleppo handed down the death sentences to al-Waddah Ismail and Maher Ali at a hearing in the city’s Justice Palace, “Alikhbaria TV” reported.

The broadcaster quoted the presiding judge as saying the men were convicted of offences involving acts intended to “provoke civil war and sectarian fighting”, as well as leading armed groups to attack government forces.

A third defendant, Maher Othman, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The court did not immediately specify the charges on which he was convicted.

The verdicts are part of ongoing judicial proceedings over violence in Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus in March 2025. For several days, gunmen loyal to the ousted Bashar al-Assad regime attacked security forces, killing hundreds.