Lebanon: Arrest of Suleiman al-Assad, cousin of ousted Syrian president

Lebanese media reported that security forces arrested Suleiman Hilal al-Assad, the cousin of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, in the vicinity of Baalbek Castle in eastern Lebanon. They added that Suleiman and several others with him were arrested while using drugs, noting that Syrian authorities had requested Lebanon to hand him over due to his involvement in murder and drug trafficking. Suleiman al-Assad is the son of Hilal al-Assad, who led armed militias established by the Assad regime during the early years of the Syrian uprising, before being killed in March 2014 during clashes with opposition factions in northern Latakia countryside. Suleiman al-Assad’s name gained prominence in August 2015 after he was accused of killing an officer in the Syrian army by shooting him following a dispute over right-of-way in the city of Latakia. The crime sparked widespread outrage among supporters of the Syrian regime, particularly in the hometown of the slain officer, where protests erupted demanding accountability for Suleiman al-Assad and the imposition of the harshest penalties against him. The Syrian regime announced at the time that he had been arrested and referred to the judiciary, before a criminal court in Latakia sentenced him to 20 years in prison in January 2016 after convicting him of murder. However, he was released from prison after only five years.