Syrian court sentences ex-president Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia for war crimes

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A Syrian court sentenced ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad along with his younger brother Maher to death in absentia on Tuesday for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria’s 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead.

The sentences at the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus were the first against Assad or members of his inner circle since the Assad family’s five decades in power came to an end in December 2024.

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“Bashar Assad used state agencies to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity,” said judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan during a court session that was aired live on state television.

Also sentenced to death was Assad’s maternal cousin Atef Najib, the former head of political security in Daraa province, who was convicted of overseeing a crackdown in the southern province of Daraa that helped trigger the uprising against Assad and later the civil war.

Under tight security, Najib stood inside a cage wearing a prisoner’s uniform as the judge read the sentence. A crowd gathered outside the courthouse in central Damascus to hear the verdict.

“Today is the day of justice for all the wounded, martyrs, detainees and Syrians who were forced to leave their country,” said Adnan al-Masalmeh, an attorney who represented families of Najib’s victims. “Today marks a victory of right against injustice, a victory of the Syrian people against the ousted regime.”

Assad and his brother Maher fled to Russia after the government’s fall in December 2024 and received political asylum. Syria’s new rulers have asked Russia to hand the Assads over.

Najib, who was sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury in April 2011, was later detained and is one of the highest-ranking security officials to be put on trial.

During his tenure as the former head of political security in Daraa, more than a dozen teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a school wall in Daraa were arrested and tortured. The case became a catalyst for mass protests against the repressive policies of Assad’s security forces.

The protests were met by a brutal government crackdown that spiraled into a 14-year civil war that ended with Assad’s ouster in a lightning rebel offensive.

Some of Najib’s victims were present at the courthouse including two who were teenagers in 2011 and expressed their opinions to The Associated Press.

“Today we reached a point where the blood was not wasted,” said Mouawiya Sayasneh, about those who died in the crackdown. Fifteen years later, “there is happiness that Atef Najib was sentenced to death,” he said.

Another man, Nayef Abazeid, who was detained at the age of 13 in 2011, expressed his satisfaction with the sentence, adding that “our biggest happiness will be when Bashar Assad is executed.”

Maher Assad was a former commander of the Syrian military’s 4th Armored Division — which opposition activists have accused of killings, torture, extortion and drug trafficking, in addition to running its own detention centers.

“Today’s scenes outside the courthouse reflect 15 years of pain and a justice long denied. Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all cases, including this one,” said Hiba Zayadin, Syria researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It’s cruel and irreversible, especially when a fair trial isn’t guaranteed.”

Zayadin added that Najib has the right to appeal, and that process “needs to meet fair trial standards too.” Real accountability for Assad-era crimes depends on Syria building a justice system that lasts, she said.

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