Syrian Military Court in Aleppo Sentences Defendants over Coastal Violence

The Military Criminal Court in Aleppo has sentenced three defendants and acquitted a fourth over Syria's coastal violence.

• The court sentenced one defendant to death by hanging, a second to life imprisonment, a third to 20 years, and acquitted a fourth.
• One defendant was convicted of incitement to civil war and sectarian strife and of joining an armed gang that killed more than two people.
• A second was convicted of joining an armed gang tasked with committing murder, looting, and robbery, and the third, a Defense Ministry member, received 20 years for intentional murder.
• Court president Zakaria Bakkar announced the verdicts, with rulings for the remaining defendants scheduled for Thursday.
• The rulings were the first verdicts tied to the coastal violence that killed hundreds of Alawite civilians last year.
• The court said the two defendants were supporters of the deposed government.
• A UN investigation described the attacks by government-aligned factions as 'widespread and systematic.'