Transitional Justice Commission: Sufficient Evidence to Prosecute Fadi Saqr

Fadi Saqr, the former commander of the National Defense Forces in Damascus, denied in statements to the "Guardian" newspaper that he was responsible for the massacres of solidarity, specifically those committed by Amjad al-Youssef, stressing that he only learned of their occurrence through the media.

 Saqr said that the video events on which he relies to bring the charges "preceded his assumption of office", as he took over the command of the National Defense in Damascus in June 2013, two months after the date of the field executions that appeared in the leaked clips, according to him.

Justifying his long silence on the campaigns against him, Saqr told the newspaper that this  "stems from his desire not to influence the ongoing course of the investigation," stressing  his "full confidence in the progress of the judicial process."

Counselor Barazi: The judiciary will decide...

Saqr's statements to the Guardian came within a lengthy investigation published by the British newspaper today, Thursday, April 30, 2026  The newspaper said that  the Syrian Transitional Justice Commission is preparing to build a case against Fadi Saqr, and quoted  the deputy head of the National Commission for Transitional Justice and advisor at the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zahra al-Barazi, as saying that "the commission is working with the victims to build a case against Saqr," pointing out that although the commission Appointed by the PA, it is "an independent body that will refer its findings to the Syrian judiciary, which in turn will decide whether to pursue the case or not."

"There is absolutely enough evidence against Saqr, and we are working with organizations that have documented a lot of these things, he was useful for certain reasons, and he is no longer so, no one is above the law," she said.

 "Plans to build a case against Saqr have been in place for several months, and during this period the political cost of keeping the former militia leader has increased," she said,  adding, "I think there is a real realization that the gains from him, when balanced with the tension he was causing to the public, are not worth it, and the arrest  of Amjad Youssef helped bring this file to the forefront."

Amjad Youssef: "I didn't receive orders from anyone"

Newly arrested criminal Amjad Youssef confessed to his participation in carrying out a mass murder in Damascus's Tadamon neighborhood, confirming that he was the person who appeared in the video that documented what was later known as the "Al-Hafra massacre" or the Tadamon massacre.

His confessions came in a video recorded by the Syrian Ministry of Interior on the evening of Saturday, April 25, which included scenes from the preliminary investigations, and Youssef said in his statement that he joined the military in 2004 and rose through the ranks until he reached the rank of first assistant, explaining that he participated with a member of the "National Defense" named Najib al-Halabi in transporting about 40 people to the site of the massacre.

He added that the massacre was carried out without the presence of other elements, and that he was the one who fired the shots, while his companion was involved in it "until the mission was completed".

After the killings, they used to put tires on top and under the bodies and set them on fire to hide the smells, he said, before the pit was later filled.

As for responsibility, Youssef said he bears responsibility for what happened "personally," denying that he had received direct orders from any officer or military commander, but clarified that the selection of the victims was not an individual decision, but was based on reports accusing them of being associated with armed groups.