Syria detains Assad-era general accused of bloody crackdown on protests

Ao vivo Clique aqui para pesquisar Inscreva-se Notícias | Bashar al-Assad Síria prende general da era Assad acusado de repressão sangrenta a protestos Major-General Mohammed Ali Durgham é acusado de ligações ao Hama massacre de 1982 e à repressão de protestos de 2011.

1. Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights.
2. Syria detains Assad-era general accused of bloody crackdown on protests | Bashar al-Assad News | Al Jazeera Skip linksSkip to Contentplay Live Sign upShow navigation menuNavigation menu.

Syrian authorities have announced the detainment of an Assad-era general accused of taking part in a massacre and overseeing a bloody crackdown on protests.

The country’s Internal Security Forces said on Monday that they had arrested former Major-General Mohammed Ali Durgham, who is accused of partaking in the Hama massacre in 1982 and ordering the shooting of unarmed protesters in 2011.

A detenção é a mais recente em uma série de prisões enquanto o governo da Síria – liderado por figuras do antigo grupo rebelde Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), que depôs o ex‑presidente Bashar Al‑Assad em 2024 após décadas de brutalidade – tenta levar à justiça aqueles que dirigiram seu regime.

The statement labelled Durgham “a prominent officer in the military establishment during the era of the former regime”.

He is accused of being involved in “issuing direct order” to fire on unarmed protestors in the Damascus countryside.

Human Rights Watch, em 2011, citou um desertor do exército sírio que disse que Durgham era um dos generais que “ordenou às tropas atirar nos manifestantes quando sua unidade foi enviada para áreas dentro e ao redor de Damasco”.

Durgham was a field commander in the army’s feared Fourth Division, commanded by Assad’s brother Maher al-Assad, between 2009 and 2013.

Durgham started “as a squad commander in the Defence Brigades during the events in Hama Governorate in 1982,” the authorities said.

On February 2, 1982, amid an information blackout, then-Syrian president Hafez al-Assad launched a brutal crackdown in the central Syrian city of Hama.

The death toll ranges from 10,000 to 40,000 people killed over the nearly month-long siege of the city.

Durgham’s arrest is part of broader efforts to pursue former officials accused of crimes and abuses under the previous regime.

Desde a derrubada de Bashar al-Assad em dezembro de 2024, as novas autoridades da Síria prenderam dezenas de ex-oficiales de segurança.

Former Major-General Jalal Kamel Saqr was detained last week for his involvement in war crimes and arbitrary detentions, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

Advertisement ConnectConnectShow more Our ChannelsOur ChannelsShow more Our NetworkOur NetworkShow more Follow Al Jazeera English.