Former Syrian president Assad sentenced to death in absentia for 'war crimes'

A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced ousted President Bashar Assad and his younger brother Maher Assad to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during Syria's 14-year conflict.

The verdicts, delivered by the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus, are the first sentences against Assad or members of his inner circle since the Assad family's five-decade rule ended with his ouster in December 2024.

"Bashar Assad used state agencies to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity," judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan said during a session broadcast live on state television.

Assad and Maher fled to Russia following the collapse of the government and were granted political asylum. Syria's new authorities have asked Moscow to hand the brothers over.

Assad's maternal cousin Atef Najib was also sentenced to death after being convicted of overseeing a crackdown in the southern province of Daraa in 2011 that helped trigger the uprising against Assad's rule. Najib, who was detained and appeared in court, has the right to appeal.

Najib was head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa and was a former army brigadier general. His forces detained and allegedly tortured more than a dozen teenagers who had written anti-government graffiti on a school wall in the province.

The arrests and subsequent crackdown became a catalyst for mass protests, which were violently suppressed by Assad's security forces and eventually developed into a civil war.

Attorney Adnan al-Masalmeh, who represented families of Najib's victims, welcomed the verdict.

"Today is the day of justice for all the wounded, martyrs, detainees and Syrians who were forced to leave their country," he said.

Some of Najib's former detainees attended the hearing. Mouawiya Sayasneh, who was among those detained during the early protests, said the verdict showed that the blood of those killed had not been wasted.

Nayef Abazeid, who was detained at the age of 13 in 2011, also welcomed the sentence, saying his greatest satisfaction would come if Bashar Assad were executed.

Maher Assad was commander of the Syrian military's elite 4th Armored Division, which opposition activists have accused of killings, torture, extortion and drug trafficking, as well as operating detention facilities.

Human Rights Watch welcomed the prosecution but criticised the use of capital punishment.

"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, the organisation's Syria researcher.

She said the death penalty was "cruel and irreversible", particularly where fair-trial guarantees were not assured, and added that Najib's appeal must meet international fair-trial standards.

The Syrian conflict, which began with protests in 2011, killed about 500,000 people and displaced millions before Assad was ousted in a lightning rebel offensive in December 2024.