Atef Najib, a cousin of ousted Syrian regime leader Bashar al Assad and former political security chief in Syria’s Daraa city, appeared on Sunday before the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus, Al-Ikhbariya television reported.
The outlet broadcast video footage showing Najib in the defendant’s cage, after he had been brought to the court in the Syrian capital.
“The first trials of transitional justice in Syria include a detainee (Atef Najib) and defendants who are fugitives from justice,” the channel quoted an unnamed judge in the court as saying.
Among those fugitives were Assad, his brother and commander of the notorious Fourth Division Maher Assad, former Defence Minister Fahd Jassem al Freij, former military intelligence chief in Daraa Laith al Ali, and former military intelligence chief in Suwayda province Wafiq Nasser.
The judge announced the session would be adjourned until May 10.
Najib, who was arrested in January last year, graduated from the Military Academy before joining the intelligence services, where he held various positions, including the Political Security Branch in Daraa.