President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree on Sunday appointing Judge Ghazi Badir al-Salah as the new chief of the first terrorism court and head of the felony room. In the same move, Judge Mohamed Khankan was appointed head of second felony room at the terrorism court while Judge Nabeel Darwish was appointed as advisor to the court.
The first terrorism court was founded in the second year of the Syrian revolution and is answerable to the high council of the Syrian judiciary, yet it is understood to be managed by heads of major security branches.
According to sources from the judicial palace, former chief of the court Rida Musa collected hundreds of millions of Syrian pounds from families of detainees in exchange for their release. Some families paid up to 3 million pounds ($14,000) to release detainees.
This article was edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
