DAMASCUS, Syria — In a shaky video shot in 2015, a woman dressed in black kneels on a public street, begging to see her children one last time. Instead, one of Syria's new justice ministers, Shadi al-Waisi, flagged down a gunman who shot her in the back of the head.

A second video showed Vaisi reading out the death sentence of another woman who, like the first woman, had also been convicted of corruption and prostitution. She was shot and fell to the ground.

The videos were filmed a decade ago when Waisi was a judge for al-Qaida's al-Nusra Front in the northern Syrian province of Idlib. But after he was appointed to a high-profile role in Syria's new government, the comments resurfaced and were shared widely on social media, raising tough questions about the country's new leader as he seeks to distance himself from the roots of extremism.

The videos were widely circulated at the time, but it was not until earlier this month that the respected Syrian news outlet Verify Sy confirmed that Waisi was the man who carried out the sentence. Verify Sy said that using specialized technical tools, it was able to match al-Waisi's features and voice to the man in the video.

It also interviewed a number of people who witnessed the executions as well as an official in the current government, who confirmed that the man in the video was Waisi, but went on to say that the executions were carried out at the stage Syria is currently in. Beyond.

NBC News has reached out to Alwaisi's office for comment on the videos, which contrast with the moderate image promoted by Ahmed Sala, who appointed Alwaisi as attorney general. Salad became Syria's de facto leader after spearheading the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad's brutal regime last month.

Shala, whose real name is Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, is a senior general of Syria's most powerful rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which originated from the Jabhat al-Nusra Front and is still considered the most powerful rebel force in Syria. Thirteen years later, the United States designated it a terrorist organization for the first time.

As Salad turned politician, he called on the United States and other countries to lift sanctions imposed on Syria during the overthrow of Assad's regime and vowed to form an inclusive government representing the country's many religious and ethnic groups. The task required convincing many inside and outside Syria that HTS's early ties to the Islamic State and al-Qaeda were no indication of how his government would rule.

The task has been complicated by the resurfacing of past actions by its leaders, such as videos of Waisi's execution, which have caused shock and outrage among some, including Hind Kabawat, a member of Syria's large Orthodox Christian community. She told NBC News last week that it was "a mistake" to place Alvaisi in such a high position and that the new regime should "consider replacing him as soon as possible."

Kabawat, a professor of conflict resolution at George Mason University in Virginia who travels regularly to Syria, said Syria has "many qualified judges" and there should be "zero" penalties for corruption at a time when the country "cannot afford any mistakes." Tolerance and zero tolerance for violence of any kind. "

Sandy Aly, a 27-year-old waiter in Damascus, also said "someone else" should fill the role. "I think if someone behaves a certain way, they're not going to change it. Even 100 years later, they're still the same," Aly said.

Her colleague Fatima Omar, 24, agrees. "We don't support them putting him there," she said.

But others, like Mustafa Obaid, 43, A high school teacher from Aleppo, In defense of Alvaisi. He said that as a judge, Waisi upheld Idlib's laws, which at the time were based on a strict interpretation of Sharia law.

Mohammad Mardoud, 41, also noted that al-Nusra was "just a small Islamist group that controls Idlib province." "In the absence of a functioning state and laws, people turn to Sharia law to solve their problems," said a construction worker in the city of Rastan in central Syria's Homs province.

He said that now that they have seized power across Syria, Shala, Waisi and their government ministers "need to rethink their approach" because "Syria is home to many religions and a rich cultural diversity."

Zubair Abbasi, a British academic and deputy editor of the Yearbook of Middle East and Islamic Law, warned against considering Sharia law as a state-enforced legal code, describing it instead as a "moral and ethical framework."

"While rulers or their officials may justify their political actions by invoking Sharia law, this assertion does not confer divine sanctity on their decisions or policies," he said, adding that while some Muslim jurists discuss death as a punishment for adultery, but they also argue that "a strong emphasis on mercy, repentance, and divine forgiveness places these values ​​above the strict enforcement of the death penalty."

Paul Salem, associate dean for international affairs at the Washington-based Middle East Institute, said that when HTS was founded in 2017, it strictly interpreted Islamic teachings consistent with al Qaeda and ISIS, but has since It has "changed markedly" as a think tank.

The group has since become more of a nationalist movement, he said.

But as the video shows, its assertive past remains a source of concern — including for the United States and other Western governments, which are weighing whether to lift sanctions imposed during Assad's regime, a move crucial to reviving Syria's struggling economy important and crucial to the development of the Syrian economy. The new government was generally successful.

Beyond Syria, “the U.S.’s position on all this remains unclear,” said Joshua Landis, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma. Sala must balance HTS's internal politics with broader goals in Syria.

"He's terrible at his job," Landis said. "Syria's politics have been damaged for a long time and Syrians don't really understand each other, they don't know how to talk to each other."

Still, he added, Salad "keeps hope alive for all segments of Syrian society, and he seems to be very good at speaking out across the board."

Inside Syria, despite the videos, teacher Obeid was prepared to support Shala and his choice of Alwaisi as justice minister.

"I think he's an honorable man and worthy of his position," Obaid said. "Don't forget, this is a transitional government and it won't last long."