India, April 27 -- The first public trial in Syria of officials linked to the rule of former President Bashar Assad opened in Damascus on Sunday.

Atef Najib, a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria's Daraa province under Assad, appeared in the courtroom to face charges related to "crimes against the Syrian people," state-run news agency SANA reported.

Najib was in that position in 2011 when teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a school wall in Daraa were arrested and tortured.

The case became a catalyst for mass protests against the repressive policies of Assad's government security forces.

The protests were met by a brutal government crackdown and spiralled ...