Syrians demand ban on Al-Assad glorification

Shafaq News- Damascus

Dozens of Syrians rallied outside the Justice Palace in Damascus on Monday, demanding enforcement of Article 49 of the constitutional declaration to criminalize glorifying the ousted Al-Assad regime or justifying its crimes.

Shafaq News correspondent said civil coordinations and activists joined the protest, held under the banner “Criminalizing Assadism,” near Al-Hamidiyah Souq.

Security forces deployed around the site as participants raised banners reading “Criminalizing Assadism is our demand.” According to organizers, the rally sought legislation based on Article 49. The March 13 constitutional declaration places the article under transitional justice, alongside measures to establish a transitional justice commission, define accountability mechanisms, secure the right to truth, and provide justice for victims and survivors.

In post-2003 Iraq, the constitution also banned any entity or program that adopts, glorifies, promotes, or justifies the Saddamist Baath and its symbols. Baghdad later passed Law No. 32 of 2016, banning the Baath Party from political, cultural, intellectual, or social activity under any name or through any means.

In May, Iraq’s Karkh Criminal Court sentenced four people to six years in prison for promoting the banned Baath Party, according to the Supreme Judicial Council.