Former Syrian grand mufti jailed for life over war crimes
A Damascus court sentenced Ahmad Badreddin Hassoun, Syria’s former grand mufti, to life in prison for incitement to violence, justifying killings and abusing his office, ruling that he used religious authority to back military operations and to advocate destruction of civilian areas tied to the war; he received 20 years for inciting killings and 10 more for prolonging them, must pay restitution, and is barred from amnesty with assets confiscated for the public treasury. This marks a rare transitional-justice case targeting a top religious official in Assad’s regime.