Bloodbath wreaked

Cousin of ousted dictator Assad arrested

The ousted Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia - now his cousin has to stand trial for his actions following a protest in his home country.(Bild: APA/AP)

A cousin of ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad has been arrested in Syria. Atef Najib is accused of organizing the violent crackdown in the southern Syrian city of Daraa, the starting point of the 2011 protests.

Najib was arrested in the coastal city of Latakia in the north-west of the country, the state news agency SANA reported on Friday, citing security sources. He had been handed over to the relevant authorities "to be tried and held accountable for the crimes he committed against the Syrian people", SANA added.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Najib is the highest-ranking representative of the ousted Assad government to have been arrested since Islamist-led militias took power on December 8.

A picture of Atef Najib is shown here: 

State violence after protest led to bloodbath in Daraa
The protest movement against Assad began in Daraa on March 15, 2011. Prior to this, 15 students had been arrested on suspicion of having written anti-government slogans on walls in the city. Residents reported that the students had been tortured. This led to a protest demanding their release, which ended in a bloodbath.

Responsible for brutal crackdown on protests
Najib, who is held responsible for the brutal state crackdown on the protests, was released by the Syrian government shortly afterwards. Together with other representatives of the Syrian government, he is on a US sanctions list.

Assad had the nationwide uprising against his government brutally crushed from 2011 onwards. It developed into a civil war in which more than half a million people were killed.