Bashar Al Assad's cousin admits 'not being an angel' during Syria's civil war

Syria has moved to open trial proceedings against one of the most high-profile militiamen from the civil war, a cousin of former president Bashar Al Assad who admits he was “not an angel” but denies killings.

The Justice Ministry said Waseem Al Assad, once one of the most feared men in Syria, was referred after interrogation to a judge who will set a date for his trial.

Among the charges he faces are forming “murderous fighting groups”, involvement in “terrorism and threatening acts” and involvement in killing civilians in the Damascus suburb of Jaramana in 2012. It is the most concrete legal move so far against operatives of the former regime who were captured over the past year.

Security forces captured Waseem Al Assad in a major breakthrough in June. The Interior Ministry described him as leader of the Baath Brigades militia and “one of the top narcotics dealers and criminals in the bygone regime”.

Information provided to the authorities by smugglers was key to his capture, on his way to the border with Lebanon, according to a security official.

With the former president and his close circle having fled to Moscow a year ago, the authorities have been under popular pressure to apprehend and try remaining operatives of the former regime who could be within reach. Officials have also pledged to stamp out a cross-border narcotics trade, particularly in the amphetamine Captagon, which helped finance the former regime.

However, revenge killings of mostly junior members and their associates have been rife, as well as random killings of Alawites, the minority sect whose members underpinned the former system. The new order is led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, a former affiliate of Al Qaeda.

A Damascus neighbourhood badly damaged by the civil war. Syria's authorities are under pressure to bring justice to members of the Assad regime. EPA

Interrogation clips

In televised segments of an interrogation aired by state media late on Tuesday, Waseem Al Assad denied killing people during the civil war and co-operating with a Lebanese drug lord, although he had taken a selfie and other photos with