Syrian court issues first sentences over coastal Alawite massacres

Syria's judiciary on Thursday sentenced a former member of government forces to 20 years in prison, while two supporters of the deposed government received a death sentence and life in prison, in the first verdicts over the killing of Alawites on the Syrian coast last year.

Fourteen people were accused of involvement in massacres, in a trial that opened last November. They were seven government forces members and seven supporters of former President Bashar al-Assad.