Justice Minister In Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS)-Linked New Syrian Government Documented Participating In 2015 Execution; Anti-HTS Channel Calls For His Prosecution

The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.

On January 4, 2025, the "Shajab News" Telegram channel, which supports Iran-backed Shi'ite militias in Iraq, shared a brief video clip dating from 2015 showing a woman about to be executed for adultery by the defunct Syrian Al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN) in Ma'arrat Misreen, in Syria's Idlib province. In the 24-second clip, Shadi Al-Waysi, currently the justice minister of the new Syrian administration linked to JN incarnation Hay'at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), can be seen standing behind the woman and declaring: "Allah Akbar! The implementation of the hadd [penalty prescribed by shari'a] on this [woman]."[1]

Titling the post "The New Syria," the channel noted that Al-Waysi was at the time a qadi [Islamic judge] for the "terrorist Jabhat Al-Nusra" and is now a member of the government formed by "the takfiri gangs of [HTS leader Ahmed Al-Sharaa aka Abu Muhammad] Al-Joulani."

A Syrian Telegram channel opposed to HTS, "Kabous Jarablus [Nightmare of Jarablus]," shared a similar video, juxtaposing it with a recent one in which Al-Waysi speaks in front of the Judicial Palace in Aleppo, soon after its capture by militants, declaring that the city will be ruled according to shari'a. The channel commented, asking: "Did the Syrian nation go out in its great revolution in order to substitute an autocrat who executes field sentences with a person like Shadi Al-Waysi?" It asserted that Al-Waysi should be "in prison, chained in handcuffs, together with the butchers of the [Assad regime's] Saydnaya prison and all the officers of the security branches who carried out systematic killings," rather than being appointed justice minister. The channel added: "The Syrian people, who offered great sacrifices for the sake of liberty and dignity, never dreamed of seeing justice trampled this way. We demand the prosecution of him and all those responsible for massacres, who shed Syrian blood."[2]

In a January 4 article, Syria's Ta'akkad [Verify] fact-checking website confirmed, using "specialized technical tools," that the features and voice of the man in the 2015 video are those of Al-Waysi, who was a JN qadi at the time.[3]

The site quoted an anonymous senior figure in the HTS-linked administration, who said that the video shows "the enforcement of the law at a specific time and place … in accordance with the laws in effect at that time." The official stressed that the current Syrian administration has "moved beyond" that stage and is committed to "the new rules and principles agreed upon by the Syrians, which guarantee justice and the rule of law." He added that "all legal actions taken during that period will undergo a thorough review to ensure the validity of the judgments and their alignment with standards of justice and fairness," stating that the administration will "assume full responsibility in a manner that … guarantees the rule of law as a fundamental cornerstone for a modern state that meets the aspirations of all Syrians."

Al-Waysi began serving as justice minister in Idlib's HTS-linked Syrian Salvation Government (SSG) in January 2023,[4] and has been Syria's' active justice minister since the fall of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024.

A photo of Al-Waysi distributed by the SSG at the time of his appointment

Al-Waysi meeting with Druze leaders in Al-Suwayda' governorate (Telegram.me/SyrianArabNewsAgency, December 29, 2024)

During its period of activity, JN claimed and documented the executions of Assad regime soldiers.[5]