Syrian government executes 24 people for starting fires
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – On Wednesday, the Syrian judicial executed 24 people on charges of terrorist acts in several governorates under the Syrian government control.
“Under the provisions of the General Penal Code, the Code of the Criminal Procedure, and the law of anti-terrorism No. 19, 2012, twenty-four criminals were executed,” the Syrian Ministry of Justice posted on its official Facebook account.
The verdict was issued against the criminals because “they had committed terrorist acts that led to death and damage to the infrastructure of the country and to the public and private properties by using incendiary materials,” it added.
The death sentence was carried out after it was ratified by the Court of Cassation and the issuance of opinion of the Amnesty Committee that the criminals must be executed, it stated.
Under the provisions of Article 7/1 of the Anti-Terrorism Law, “eleven defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor for committing terrorist acts.”
Four others were also sentenced to “temporary hard labor for interfering with terrorist acts, and five juveniles were sentenced to imprisonment for a period ranging from ten to twelve years for committing acts that led to the death and destruction of public property.”
Late in 2020, the Ministry of Interior of the Syrian government managed to “identify the perpetrators and those involved in the outbreak of dozens of fires in Latakia, Tartous and Homs.”
The total number of fires that started (intentionally and unintentionally) in the governorates of Latakia, Tartous, Homs and Hama last year reached 187. 280 villages and towns were affected by those fires which destroyed more than 13,000 hectares of crops, including thousands of trees, including olives, citrus fruits and apples.
The fires burned 11,000 hectares of forested land and damaged more than 370 homes, in addition to massive damage to livestock, farming equipment and infrastructure.
The farmers’ loss amounted to approximately 30 billion Syrian pounds, according to the Ministry of Justice in the Syrian government.