On Wednesday, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued the first general amnesty since he took power after the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, including categories of those convicted of criminal and misdemeanor cases and those over seventy, with life imprisonment reduced to 20 years and drug, currency, and smuggling penalties abolished, with the exception of serious violations against Syrians.

Published on: 02/18/2026 - 22:18

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa announced the issuance of a general amnesty on Wednesday covering multiple categories of those convicted of felonies and misdemeanors and those over seventy years of age, with the exception of perpetrators of violations against Syrians.

This is the first pardon issued by Al-Sharaa since he came to power after the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, who issued similar decrees from time to time during his rule.

Details of the presidential amnesty decree

The decree published by Syrian official television stipulates the reduction of the “life sentence” to 20 years, the abolition of “the entire penalty for misdemeanors and violations,” and the abolition of penalties related to felonies stipulated in the Anti-Narcotics Law, the Law Prohibiting Dealing in Money Other than the Syrian Pound, and the Law of Smuggling State-Supported Materials.

The amnesty also includes the cancellation of penalties related to crimes stipulated in the Military Penal Code and the Information Crimes Law.

Those convicted of crimes stipulated in the Weapons and Ammunition Law are also exempted from the full penalty on the condition that they “take the initiative to hand over the weapon to the competent authorities within three months from the date” of the issuance of the decree. Everyone who is “afflicted with an incurable, incurable disease” and those who are “seventy years old” are exempted, and are not included in the exceptions mentioned in the decree.

Excluded from the amnesty, according to the text of the decree, are “crimes that include serious violations against the Syrian people” and “crimes stipulated in the law criminalizing torture.”

Since the new authorities came to power, they announced the arrest of dozens of people they accused of being linked to the previous regime and committing violations against Syrians, and began trying a number of them.

France 24/AFP

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