World
December 27, 2024 08:10
damascus - General Kanjo Hassan, known for his brutalities, has been arrested by Syrian forces for delivering death sentences in the infamous torture prison of Saidnaya.
General Mohammed Kanjo Hassan, the head of military justice under the regime of former dictator Bashar al-Assad, was arrested along with twenty accomplices in the city of Chirbet al-Maasa, as reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Thursday.
The arrest of General Hassan took place in the Tartus region, heavily populated by Alawites. Assad, being an Alawite, had significant support from this minority group.
Hassan was responsible for numerous death sentences, according to the police report on his arrest. Chirbet al-Maasa, located in the western coastal province of Tartus, has traditionally been a stronghold of Assad loyalists.
Fighters led by the Islamist HTS militia captured Damascus on December 8, putting an end to Assad's decades-long rule in Syria. Assad faced accusations of abduction, torture, and murder of dissidents, prompting him to flee to Russia.
The Saidnaya prison, situated north of Damascus, was liberated on December 12, revealing horrific tortures inflicted on prisoners. Victims were crushed to death by a large press in the Saidnaya torture prison. A machine, marked as being built in Germany, was used for this purpose.
The 24-year-old physician who examined the deceased prisoners described heads being mutilated with chainsaws and skin being removed from living bodies using electric rakes.
General Hassan was directly responsible for the death sentences. Kanjo Hassan was mentioned in a report by the Violations Documentation Centre in Syria as one of the most famous judges in Syria, notorious for his inhumane treatment of prisoners.
Due to his unwavering loyalty to Assad, Hassan was promoted to major general and appointed as the director of the military justice department, reporting directly to the Ministry of Defense. However, with the fall of the Assad regime, Hassan's days seem numbered.
Reports of clashes between Assad loyalists and the new Syrian government, especially in the coastal provinces, continue to emerge, keeping the shadow of Assad lingering over Syria.