Fathallah Saqqal

Fathallah Saqqal (Arabic: فتح الله الصقال; 1898 – 27 March 1970) was a Syrian attorney, writer and government minister.

[3] During his first defense case, he argued his case in the elaborate manner he had grown accustomed to in Egypt, but which was frowned upon by the Ottoman court system and its Syrian successors, which preferred brief defense arguments (Syria had been part of the Ottoman Empire until 1918, after which it came under an informal Arab administration before French Mandatory rule began in 1920).

Saqqal defended Hananu during his four-day trial by the French Mandatory court in Aleppo between 15–18 March 1922.

Saqqal also brought numerous Aleppine notables and religious figures to testify on Hanna's behalf, with their testimony generally painting a picture of Hananu as a patriot rather than a brigand rebel.

Thus, Saqqal was able to persuade the court that Hananu had only been carrying out his military duties as an Ottoman soldier.