The First Military Criminal Court in Damascus issued an absentia verdict of life imprisonment with hard labor for Abdul-Halim Khaddam, the former vice president of the Syrian president.
The Syrian court charged Abdul-Halim Khaddam with several crimes, including communication with Israel.
In Paris, a family member of the former Syrian vice president stated in a phone call with the French news agency that he had not been notified of the verdict.
The military court accused Khaddam of several charges, including “criminal defamation of the Syrian leadership, providing false testimony to the international investigation committee regarding the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and producing writings and speeches that were not approved by the Syrian government.”
He was also accused of “conspiring to undermine political and civil authority, having illegitimate ties with Israel, undermining the state’s prestige, and, most severely, espionage for a foreign state, which led to a life sentence.”
Khaddam defected in 2005, criticizing Syrian foreign policy, especially in Lebanon. In 2006, he founded the National Salvation Front, an opposition group in exile, which includes prominent Syrian opposition figures, including the Muslim Brotherhood.
Khaddam has called for peaceful change in Syria and the establishment of a modern democratic state based on citizenship.
It’s worth noting that the ruling Baath Party in Syria decided in December 2005 to expel Khaddam and called for him to be prosecuted for high treason following his explicit criticism of the Syrian leadership in an interview with Al Arabiya TV.
The Syrian People’s Council also recommended prosecuting Khaddam for high treason. Members accused him of betrayal and collaboration “with Syria’s enemies,” demanding his trial before the people and removal of his name from the lawyers’ association, considering his statements part of the pressures exerted on Syria.
Khaddam had leveled unprecedented criticism against the Syrian leadership, stating that it had committed a series of mistakes. He claimed to have much more serious things to say at the appropriate time.
He also claimed that former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri had received numerous threats from Syria, including harsh words from President Bashar al-Assad himself, before his assassination in Beirut in February 2005.
