DAMASCUS, Syria: The Bashar al-Assad verdict brought a death sentence in absentia on Tuesday. Judges found the ousted president guilty of killings, torture, arbitrary arrest and crimes against humanity.
The ruling marked Assad’s first conviction in Syria since opposition forces toppled his government in December 2024, Reuters reported.
Assad fled Damascus for Moscow as opposition fighters approached the capital. He remains in Russia, according to Reuters.
Judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan announced the ruling at Damascus’ Fourth Criminal Court. Syrian state television carried the hearing live, the Associated Press reported. Al-Aryan said Assad used state institutions to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The court also gave death sentences to Assad’s younger brother, Maher al-Assad, and cousin Atef Najib. Maher once led the Syrian army’s Fourth Armoured Division.
Najib served as political security chief in southern Daraa province in 2011. He appeared in court and heard the sentence from inside a defendant’s cage, AP reported.
Read: Bashar al-Assad Granted Asylum in Moscow Following Rebel Takeover
The court convicted Najib over the crackdown that helped trigger Syria’s uprising. Security forces had detained and tortured teenagers for writing anti-government graffiti, according to AP. The uprising became a civil war that killed about 500,000 people over nearly 14 years.
Read: Bashar al-Assad Flees Syria – Rebel Forces Seize Control
Prosecutor and plaintiff Nouha al-Masri welcomed the ruling in comments to the BBC. “There will be no impunity from this day forward,” she said.
Syria’s new leaders have asked Russia to surrender the Assad brothers, AP reported. Russia granted them asylum after the government fell.
