Press release
Majdi Nema’s conviction for crimes committed in Syria is a landmark decision for universal jurisdiction
The trial of Majdi Nema (Islam Alloush), former spokesperson and high official of the Syrian armed group Jaysh al-Islam, ended on 28 May 2025. After five weeks of hearings, the Paris Criminal Court found Majdi Nema guilty of complicity in war crimes and participation in a group formed to prepare war crimes. The Court sentenced him to 10 years of imprisonment.
Paris, 10 June 2025. It is the first time that French courts have rendered a decision based on universal jurisdiction for crimes committed in Syria, and the first conviction in France on the basis of these charges. Majdi Nema, former spokesperson and high official of the Syrian armed group Jaysh al-Islam (“Army of Islam”), was found guilty for the war crime of conscription of minors aged 15 to 18 years old, and for taking part in a group formed to prepare war crimes in Syria between 2013 et 2016. He has been sentenced to ten years of imprisonment. This verdict is largely the result of efforts by the victims and the civil parties in their pursuit of justice.
“After five years of investigation, the decision of the Paris Criminal Court is a clear recognition of the crimes committed by Jaysh al-Islam in Eastern Ghouta (Syria), including tortures, murders, conscription of minors, and the enforced disappearances of the four human rights activists Razan Zaitouneh, Wael Hamada, Samira Al-Khalil and Nazem Al Hammadi, as well as the involvement of Majdi Nema in them”, explains Clémence Bectarte, lawyer for the civil parties and coordinator of FIDH’s Litigation Action group.
“From a legal perspective, this decision has two major implications”, explains Marc Bailly, lawyer for the civil parties, “On the one hand, it acknowledges that, given the economic situation in which many young people in Eastern Ghouta found themselves at that time, they had no serious alternatives available but to join the group, meaning that their enrolment within Jaysh al-Islam cannot be considered voluntary. On the other hand, it recognizes that Majdi Nema, as a senior member involved in the propaganda activities of Jaysh al-Islam, is responsible for having aided or assisted the group in the recruitment of minors”.
« The future of Syria cannot be built on silence or selective memory », said Mazen Darwish, General Director of SCM. « While universal and extraterritorial jurisdiction cases are essential, justice and accountability for the crimes committed by all parties in Syria must be tackled by the Syrian authorities themselves for there to be hope to achieve lasting peace. »
In January 2020, Majdi Nema was arrested in Marseille (France) and placed in pre-trial detention, following a complaint filed against Jaysh al-Islam in France in June 2019. Three Syrian victims have then joined the proceedings as civil parties and, alongside several Syrian witnesses, courageously testified during this important trial.
“The decision of the Paris Criminal Court marks an important step in the fight against impunity for crimes committed by all parties to the Syrian conflict” said Patrick Baudouin, lawyer for LDH and FIDH.
Majdi Nema has filed an appeal against this decision. The date of the appeal trial has not yet been set.
