Former Syrian Interior Minister Mohammed Al-Shaar appeared in a video in the custody of the new Syrian administration’s forces after turning himself in—the first time a high-ranking official from the previous regime has voluntarily surrendered to the new Syrian government. This comes about two months after Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia.

From Survival to Accountability

Mohammed Al-Shaar, the only survivor of two previous bombings, seems to have failed to escape this time. He had previously survived the crisis cell bombing on July 18, 2012, which killed several top officials, including Assef Shawkat, Assad’s brother-in-law, and Defense Minister Daoud Rajha. At the time, there were reports that Al-Shaar had also been killed, but he reappeared on Syrian television 10 days later with an injured arm, fueling speculation about his possible role in the attack.

Later that year, on December 12, 2012, Al-Shaar narrowly escaped another bombing outside the Syrian Ministry of Interior in Kafr Sousa, after which he was transported to Beirut for medical treatment. Coincidentally, the attack was claimed by Jabhat al-Nusra, the group that later evolved into Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which ultimately played a role in toppling the Assad regime.

Al-Shaar appeared in two separate videos—one inside a vehicle with two men, and another during a televised interview after surrendering himself. In both, he stated:

“My conscience is clear, and I have always acted within the law. (…) The Ministry of Interior had no secret prisons; international committees and the Red Cross had access to all detention centers. Everything related to humanitarian concerns was under judicial and UN supervision. We had nothing to hide. (…) The prisons that the opposition refers to were not under the Interior Ministry’s jurisdiction. Our facilities had standards aimed at improving prisoners’ conditions as much as possible. We had no involvement with or knowledge of other detention centers.”

Amid the chaos and rising revenge attacks, Al-Shaar made an unexpected decision—to hand himself over to the new authorities. He admitted that since the fall of the previous regime, he had made several attempts to reach out to them.

This move likely reflects an effort to avoid an uncertain fate, as he recognized the shifting political landscape and saw this as his last opportunity to escape personal retribution and legal prosecution. His mobility was already restricted due to sanctions, asset freezes, and a travel ban, making surrender his only viable option.

Al-Shaar: Trapped by Sanctions and Accountability

The case of Mohammed Al-Shaar and the way he surrendered reflect the fate of many former regime officials whom their leader abandoned to face their destiny alone. Before him, Atif Najib was arrested while attempting to flee, and it seems that justice and sanctions against Assad’s men will eventually push them to surrender rather than become victims of so-called “individual mistakes,” as many leaked recordings suggest. The mechanisms of accountability remain unclear, but the pressure is mounting.

Al-Shaar served as Minister of Interior in 2011, after previously holding positions such as Head of Military Police and Chief of Military Security Branches in Aleppo and Tartous. His name has been on Western sanctions lists since mid-2011.

The European Union imposed sanctions on him in 2011, in response to his role in the violent crackdown against peaceful protesters during the Syrian revolution. He was classified as responsible for human rights violations due to his involvement in suppressing opposition movements and contributing to the brutal repression of protests.

Similarly, the United States imposed sanctions on Al-Shaar in 2011, aligning with broader international efforts to pressure the Syrian government. His name was specifically mentioned in the U.S. Treasury Department’s list of sanctioned Syrian officials and entities responsible for human rights abuses.

Despite his remarks about post-revolution Syria, Al-Shaar deliberately avoided mentioning his role before the revolution, particularly in the atrocities he was a part of. He played a significant role in the Saydnaya Prison Massacre in 2008, which took place after prisoners staged an uprising.

Al-Shaar’s Crimes in Lebanon

Al-Shaar may be trying to escape accountability for crimes committed by the Syrian regime, but he knows well that his past still haunts him. He was responsible for security in Tripoli, Lebanon, during the 1980s, and was one of the key figures in Lebanon under Ghazi Kanaan’s rule.

In December 1986, his forces were involved in the massacre in Bab al-Tabbaneh in Tripoli, where around 700 civilians were killed, including children. This massacre earned him the title “The Butcher of Tripoli,” a name that has remained a symbol of his dark legacy.

He is also believed to have been responsible for the assassination of Khalil Akkawi, the founder of the Popular Resistance in Tripoli, who was known as “Abu Arabi.”

In 2012, while receiving medical treatment in Lebanon after the bombing that injured him, Lebanese lawyer Tariq Shandab filed a legal complaint against Al-Shaar. The complaint was based on accusations of his involvement in the killing of hundreds in Tripoli, as requested by families of victims who held him responsible. The French news agency AFP quoted Shandab at the time as saying that he had filed the case against Al-Shaar on charges of genocide, ethnic cleansing, political assassinations, and the killing of religious figures and children in Bab al-Tabbaneh.

In a television interview at the time, Shandab directly accused Al-Shaar of premeditatedly assassinating Khalil Akkawi, stating: “The crimes committed by Mohammed Al-Shaar are crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing by design, and fall under the Lebanese penal code.”

Now, with Al-Shaar claiming that “his conscience is clear,” the long-awaited road to accountability has finally begun—a path Syrians have awaited for 54 years of oppression and atrocities. Al-Shaar, one of the most notorious figures in Assad’s repression machine, is just the beginning of what must become a far-reaching process of justice that holds dozens of Assad regime officials accountable for their crimes at every level.