If confirmed, the resignation of Judge Adnan Mohammed al Bakkour, the attorney general of the province of Hama, would be the highest level defection since the anti-government protests began five months ago.
In a video released by local activists, the judge said he was stepping down in protest at the "savage regime's practices against peaceful protesters".
He describes the atrocities he said had been committed in Hama, including the killing of 72 prisoners at the city's central jail on the eve of the regime's military assault on July 31. He said their bodies had been buried in a nearby village.
The judge also claimed that another 420 people were killed by security forces during the 10-day operation in Hama, adding they had been buried in mass graves in public parks around the city.
The Syrian government claims that Judge al Bakkour has made the statement under duress, after being kidnapped by armed gangs.
But in a second video he said that was "totally false". The former attorney general, the most senior legal official in Hama, said before his resignation he had been pressured by the regime to write a report claiming all the deaths in the province had been caused by "armed gangs".
In his video statement, Mr Bakkour went on to list those responsible for the "massacres" in Hama, including Syria's interior minister and 13 intelligence and security forces operatives. He said he would make "live statements soon" once he had left Syria.
Activists claim the crackdown against anti-regime protesters is continuing across the country with security forces opening fire on demonstrators, carrying out raids and conducting random arrests.
A young girl, reportedly killed in Deir Azzour, is said to have been among the latest casualties.
Post published in: World News