DAMASCUS, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Syrian authorities on Thursday said a military court sentenced two defendants to death over last year's coastal violence, state news agency SANA reported.
A military criminal court in Aleppo sentenced al-Waddah Ismail and Maher Ali to death over their involvement in the March 2025 coastal violence, while a third defendant, Maher Othman, received a 12-year prison sentence.
The court convicted the defendants of offenses including inciting civil strife and leading armed groups in attacks against public security personnel, according to SANA.
Separately, the General Intelligence Directorate arrested Ali Kayali, also known as Mihrac Ural, whom authorities identify as a key suspect in the 2013 Banias massacre, SANA said.
Kayali was caught trying to flee across the border, it said, without specifying where he was arrested or what charges he faces.
The developments come amid efforts by Syria's authorities to pursue accountability for violence committed during the country's prolonged conflict and the unrest that followed the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad's government in December 2024.
The March 2025 coastal violence, which involved attacks on security forces and subsequent killings of civilians, prompted investigations and judicial proceedings. The Banias massacre in May 2013 was among the major episodes of violence against civilians during the earlier years of Syria's civil war. ■
