In mid-December he proclaimed the “end of the era of oppression” on one of the large billboards that appeared in Aleppo, the day after the fall of the Assad regime. The new Syrian Minister of Justice, Shadi Al Waisi, today finds himself at the heart of more than embarrassing revelations about his past in Idlib.
Two videos, brought to the surface in recent days, show a man strongly resembling him, wearing glasses and a dense beard, supervising the executions of two women prosecuted for prostitution and adultery in January 2015. In the midst of civil war, Idlib was then held by the Al-Nusra Front – branch of Al-Qaeda in Syria, now Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTC) – within which Shadi Al Waisi, a graduate in Islamic law, worked at the time as a religious leader.
The first video shows a man, wearing a LIMIT black, pronounce the death sentence on a woman kneeling in the street, surrounded by armed men. In the second, the individual suspected of being Shadi Al Waisi is filmed interacting with an accused who asks to speak to her children before being summarily executed by gunfire in the middle of the street.
“A strong match”
Beyond the simple physical and vocal resemblance, the Syrian fact-checking platform Verify Syria confirmed the authenticity of the videos and the identity of the 39-year-old minister. “As this case sparked public debate, the research team intervened to verify the photos. Using open source tools, the team matched the video's facial features and voice with Shadi Al Waisi's recent interviews. Despite the poor quality of the images, the results showed strong agreement” explained on X Zouhir Al Shimale, journalist, researcher and communications manager for Verify Syria.
The site also made contact with the new Syrian administration, which has made justice and equality the cornerstones of its power. The new strongman Ahmad Al Chareh (Abou Mohammed Al Joulani by his nom de guerre) did not comment on these revelations, but an official confirmed to Verify Syria that Shadi Al Waisi, then a judge, was indeed the individual appearing in these videos.
This same official, who requested anonymity, tried to justify the actions of the newly appointed minister, by explaining that these executions had taken place “in accordance with the laws in force at the time and as part of the procedure”, reports Zouhir Al Shimale. This interlocutor assures Verify Syria that these images “reflect a stage that we have passed” and that the power would lead a “thorough examination”.
“A slap in the face to all values of justice”
Since the re-emergence of these videos, calls for the minister's resignation have multiplied in young post-Assad Syria. “Granting the position of Minister of Justice in Syria to a person who participated in the cold-blooded execution of a woman in 2015 is a slap in the face to all values of justice and humanity and a shocking message to both inside and out”, thus denounces an Internet user.
“If Ahmad Al Chareh opposes punitive measures of this nature, he must make it known to the hard-line Islamists in Syria who aspire to them. He must start by removing from office the Minister of Justice and all other members of his cabinet who represent this ideology”adds Syrian-British journalist and activist Rami Jarrah on his social networks.
Despite its revelations and the confirmation of the identity of Shadi Al Waisi, Verify Syria also wishes to warn against online disinformation companies, linked to Russia and Iran, which have been spreading since the fall of the former regime to discredit the interim administration in Damascus.
