Syria opens first public trial over deadly coastal violence

The first trial was opened on Tuesday of some of the hundreds of suspects linked to deadly clashes in Syria's coastal provinces earlier this year that quickly spiraled into sectarian attacks.

State media reported that 14 people were brought to Aleppo's Palace of Justice following a monthslong, government-led investigation into the violence in March involving government forces and supporters of ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad. The investigating committee referred 563 suspects to the judiciary.

Seven of the defendants in the court were Assad loyalists, while the other seven were members of the new government's security forces.

The trial follows pressure from the public and the international community for the country's new rulers to commit to judicial reform after decades under the autocratic rule of the Assad dynasty.

Despite initial reports by the state media that charges could quickly be brought against the defendants, the judge adjourned the session and rescheduled the next hearing for December.

Charges against the suspects could include sedition, inciting civil war, attacking security forces, murder, looting and leading armed gangs, according to state media.

The judge was heard during the televised proceedings asking the defendants if they were military or civilian. One suspect, an Assad loyalist, was accused of taking part in an ambush on government forces and trying to hide the weapons used.

During questioning by the judge of a suspect from the Syrian security forces accused of a targeted killing, a video showing the alleged killing was submitted as evidence. The suspect claimed the video was fabricated and denied killing anyone.

"But you're clearly visible in the video, showing you killing the person who is kneeling down," the judge said.

Relatives of some of the defendants attended the hearing. Ayman Bakkour told The Associated Press that his son, a member of the the government's 82nd Division military unit, has been held in custody for at least seven months.

"My son was arrested for violations in the coast," Bakkour, from Idlib province, said outside the courthouse. "There were clashes there and he took a video that accidentally went viral. He's now being prosecuted."

Given the scale of the violence and the number of suspects, it is unclear how long the proceedings will take.

The clashes in March erupted after armed groups aligned with Assad ambushed the new government's security forces. A counteroffensive then spiraled into sectarian revenge attacks and the massacre of hundreds of civilians from the Alawite religious minority, to which Assad belongs and who largely live along the coast.

The attacks on the Alawite community mounted pressure on interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa. Since coming to power in December, his government has scrambled to step out from diplomatic isolation and convince the U.S. to drop crippling sanctions and boost trade to rebuild the war-torn country.

The government's investigating committee in July concluded that over 1,400 people, mostly civilians, were killed during several days of sectarian violence. But the inquiry said there was no evidence that Syria's new military leaders had ordered attacks on the Alawite community.

A United Nations probe, however, found that violence targeting civilians by government-aligned factions had been "widespread and systematic."

The U.N. commission said that during the violence homes in Alawite-majority areas were raided and civilians were asked "whether they were Sunni or Alawite." It said: "Alawite men and boys were then taken away to be executed."