Khaberni - Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa issued a general pardon on Wednesday, covering various categories of individuals convicted in criminal and misdemeanor cases, and those over the age of seventy, but it excludes those who committed violations against Syrians.
This is the first pardon issued by al-Sharaa since he came to power after ousting the former president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, who occasionally issued similar decrees during his rule.
The decree, published by Syrian state television, stipulates the reduction of “life imprisonment” to 20 years, and the cancellation of "the entire penalty in misdemeanors and infractions," and the cancellation of penalties related to felonies specified in the drug control law, the law prohibiting dealings in currencies other than the Syrian pound, and the law on smuggling state-subsidized materials.
The pardon also includes the cancellation of penalties related to felonies specified in the military penal code and the cybercrime law.
It also pardons those convicted of crimes specified in the weapons and ammunition law, provided they "initiate the surrender of the weapon to the competent authorities within three months from the date of the decree’s issuance."
Everyone "suffering from a terminal illness that is incurable" and those "who have reached the age of seventy," and are not included in the exceptions stated in the decree, are also pardoned.
Excluded from the pardon, according to the text of the decree, are "crimes involving serious violations against the Syrian people" and "crimes specified in the law criminalizing torture."
Since the new authorities came to power, they have announced the arrest of dozens accused of being linked to the previous regime and committing violations against Syrians, and have begun the trial of several of them.
