Syria Court Sentences Assad Cousin to 20 Years for Murder

A cousin of Syria's President Bashar Assad has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of a military officer last summer, a security source said Friday.

"A court in Latakia on Thursday sentenced Suleiman Assad to 20 years in prison for the murder of Colonel Hassan al-Sheikh," the source said.

The murder took place in August on the road between Latakia city and Qardaha, the ancestral village of the Assad family.

Latakia province is a regime stronghold and heartland of the Alawite minority to which the president, Sheikh and Suleiman Assad all belong. The incident raised tensions within the community.

Sheikh's relatives said at the time that the president had pledged "to punish the perpetrator, whoever he is."

Suleiman Assad's father, Hilal Assad, a first cousin of the president, headed the defense forces in Latakia city before his death in March 2014 during clashes with rebels in nearby Kasab.

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