Syrian politician (born 1985)
Shadi Mohammad al-Waisi (Arabic: شادي محمد الويسي; born 1985) is the current Minister of Justice in the Syrian transitional government since December 2024.[1] He had served as Minister of Justice in the Syrian Salvation Government during its sixth term, starting in 2022 and up until the December 2024 fall of the Assad regime.[2]
Education
Al-Waisi holds a degree in Islamic Sharia and a diploma in educational qualification. He is also working on a master's thesis in Islamic and judicial studies. Prior to his judicial and political career, he worked as an Islamic education teacher and served as an imam and preacher in Aleppo for seven years.[2]
During the Syrian civil war
Al-Nusra
In a video, filmed in January 2015 in Maarrat Misrin, al-Waisi can reportedly be seen among the spectators at a public execution.[3] The video shows a woman being executed with a single bullet to the head after being allegedly convicted of prostitution.[4][5]
In another video, recorded approximately one week later in Hafasraja, a similar execution took place for a woman under the same charges.[6] This time, al-Waisi, who was a judge for the Al-Nusra Front, is seen personally delivering the verdict next to the condemned woman and signaling the executioner to proceed.[7][3] The execution was carried out with a single bullet to the head.[6]
Syrian Salvation Government
During the Syrian Civil War, he played a role in the establishment of judicial institutions in areas under the control of opposition factions. He co-founded the Sharia Authority in Dhahret Awad and served as a judge. Later, he joined the founding cadre of the Quadripartite Sharia Authority in Aleppo, where he held positions as a military misdemeanor judge, an appeals judge, and the public prosecutor.[2]
Al-Waisi also founded and presided over the Judicial Circuit Project and established key judicial institutions, including the Salqin Court, Hreitan Court, and the Northern Badiya Court. In addition to these roles, he has served as the head of the Civil Felonies Court and the Criminal Appeals Court under the Syrian Salvation Government. He is also a member of the Supreme Judicial Council.[2]
Minister of Justice
In 2024, al-Waisi began serving as the Minister of Justice in the Syrian transitional government under prime minister Mohammed al-Bashir after the fall of the Assad regime and the decision that ministers of the salvation government will serve in the same roles in the transitional government until March 2025.[1]
Videos of al-Waisi approving executions of women dating back to his tenure as a judge for the Al-Nusra Front resurfaced shortly after he was appointed as minister of justice and sparked criticism.[3][7][8][9][10][11]
See also
References
