A court under the Autonomous Administration sentenced a minor to three years in prison for insulting military leaders in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria.
According to local sources and Syrian media, the court in the Al-Kallaseh neighborhood of Al-Hasakah city, affiliated with the Autonomous Administration, sentenced 12-year-old Ali Mohammad Al-Khabeel to three years in prison for “insulting” SDF leaders.
Local site Al-Sharqiya Post reported that the SDF arrested the child on April 18th from the Khishman neighborhood in Al-Hasakah. Ali is the nephew of Ahmad Hamid Al-Khabeel, the former head of the Deir ez-Zor Military Council who is currently detained by the SDF. Ali’s father, Mohammad Hamid Al-Khabeel, was previously executed by ISIS during their control of Deir ez-Zor.
A video of Ali Mohammad Al-Khabeel criticizing SDF leaders had circulated earlier, where he condemned the Autonomous Administration’s pricing of wheat, calling it “unfair”.
The Same Justice organization condemned the court’s decision to imprison the 12-year-old and demanded the child’s immediate release and accountability for those responsible for the harm caused to him. The organization emphasized that the child lacks the legal capacity to be held accountable, as he is still a minor.
Under Syrian law, a minor is defined as anyone under the age of 18, according to Article 46 of the Syrian Civil Code, which states, “Anyone who has reached the age of majority and is of sound mind, not interdicted, is fully competent to exercise their civil rights”.
The organization also highlighted Article 13.1 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that children have the right to freedom of expression. This right includes seeking, receiving, and imparting information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing, or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child’s choice.
