Over 14,500 Syrian Deserters Granted Pardon by Assad's Decree

Date: 04 December 2018 - 21:20

News ID: ۶۰۳۸۳

MOSCOW (Dispatches) – More than 14,500 Syrians who evaded the duties of military service, including among refugees and former members of illegal armed groups, were granted amnesty in Syria as of December 2, head of the Russian Defense Ministry’s Center for Syrian reconciliation Lt. Gen. Sergei Solomatin says.
"As part of the implementation of the decree of the President of the Syrian Arab Republic B. Assad dated November 9, 2018, the Syrian authorities continue to work on amnesty for those who evade from military service, including those among refugees and former members of illegal armed groups. As for December 2, 2018, in total 14,522 were granted amnesty," the statement says.
Solomatin also said that one ceasefire violation had been registered in the Idlib de-escalation zone over the past 24 hours, adding that terrorists attacked the village of Hifsin in the province of Hama.
The center calls on the commanders of the illegal armed groups to abandon armed provocations and take the path of peaceful settlement in the areas under their control, he added.
Meanwhile, Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova says Moscow has received hundreds of requests from the widows of Daesh terrorists, whom were slain either in Iraq or Syria over the past few years, to return home.
Speaking at a conference in the Russian capital city of Moscow on Tuesday, Moskalkova said over 1,000 requests have been submitted to Russian authorities, adding that the women have "sustained an unimaginable violence.”
She further noted that the repatriation of the Daesh widows is a difficult process, given the fact that they have been involved in acts of terror and their return could pose a threat to the safety of Russian citizens.
On April 29, the Central Criminal Court of Iraq, which is the country's flagship criminal justice institution, found 19 female Russian citizens guilty of "joining and supporting Daesh” and handed down life sentences to them.
The court issued the verdicts as women, all accompanied by small children, attended the hearing.
Ziyad Sabsabi, a Russian senator and Deputy Chairman of the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee, had earlier warned that the Russian women would face death penalty, noting that most of them had denied their charges.