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The Ministry of Justice stated that those executed are “criminals” responsible for the death and destruction of infrastructure and public property.
The Syrian Ministry of Justice stated that after arson killed 3 people and burned thousands of hectares (acres) of forest last year, it has executed 24 people.
Although executions are common in war-torn Syria, more people were executed on Wednesday than usual.
The decade-long conflict in Syria resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths and the displacement of half of the country’s population, including 5 million refugees from abroad.
The Justice Department said in a statement issued by state media on Thursday that those executed were accused of “committed terrorist acts that caused death and damage to national infrastructure and public and private property through the use of flammable materials”.
It added that 11 others were sentenced to life hard labor, 4 were sentenced to temporary labor camps, and 5 minors were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years for similar charges.
Their identities were not disclosed, nor did they provide details about the location and method of execution.
The ministry stated that these suspects were identified during the investigation of the wildfires in Latakia, Tartus and Homs by the Ministry of the Interior at the end of last year.
According to the Ministry of Justice, “they admitted that they opened fires in multiple locations in the three provinces, and they also admitted that they held meetings to plan fires”, which occurred intermittently in September and October 2020.
It said it recorded 187 fires that affected 280 towns and villages last year.
The Ministry of Justice stated that they destroyed 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres) of agricultural land and 11,000 hectares of forest land, and also damaged more than 370 houses.
The hometown of President Bashar al-Assad in Gardaha, Latakia Province, suffered severe fires. The buildings used by the state-owned tobacco company as warehouses were severely damaged and some of the buildings collapsed.
Soon after the fire was brought under control, Assad made a rare visit to the area.
According to the human rights organization Amnesty International, Syrian law still stipulates the death penalty for crimes such as terrorism, arson and desertion.
In its latest death penalty report released this year, Amnesty International stated that it was able to confirm information indicating that executions took place in Syria in 2020, but said it did not have enough information to provide a reliable minimum number.
The death penalty is usually executed by hanging in Syria.
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