Bashar al-Assad sentenced to death in absentia
A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death after a trial in absentia, convicting him of atrocities committed during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war.
It is the first such ruling under Syria’s transitional leaders who ousted Assad in December 2024, vowing to provide justice and accountability for crimes committed under his rule.
Assad fled to Moscow as Islamist-led forces closed in on Damascus after a lightning offensive.
At a court in Damascus on Tuesday, Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan convicted Assad of crimes including “premeditated murder, the intentional killing of more than one person, the intentional killing of children under 15 years … torture, torture leading to death, and deprivation of liberty on multiple occasions—classified as crimes against humanity and war crimes.”
“He is therefore sentenced to death,” the judge said.
Syria in April began proceedings against Assad and other officials accused in person and in absentia of atrocities during the country’s civil war, which erupted with brutal repression of prodemocracy protesters by the former authorities.
More than half a million people were subsequently killed and millions displaced, while tens of thousands disappeared, many into the country’s prison system.
The court also sentenced six former military and security officials in absentia to death, including Assad’s brother Maher, who ran the army’s elite Fourth Division.
Crimes against humanity
Those convicted included former Defense Minister Fahd al-Freij and Louay al-Ali, who headed military intelligence in Daraa province in 2011.
The court convicted the officials of crimes, including murder, incitement to murder, torture leading to death and repeated deprivation of liberty, also considered “crimes against humanity” and “war crimes.”
Former security official Atif Najib—the only one in the dock—was sentenced to death for “crimes against humanity” committed when he was head of political security in Daraa province, the cradle of Syria’s uprising.
A cousin of Assad who was arrested in January last year, Najib was convicted of crimes, including “the intentional killing of children under 15,” and “torture leading to death.”
Aryan said Najib had denied the charges and showed “no remorse.”
Syrian Justice Minister Mazhar al-Wais told state television that the rulings would be referred to Syria’s court of cassation for a final decision, adding that defendants had the right to appeal within 30 days.
Credible justice
In a series of trial sessions held since late April, the court heard from witnesses and was presented with documents, images, and at times classified information, while the judge’s statements were sometimes televised.
Human Rights Watch (HRW), which attended several of Najib’s hearings, called his case and other proceedings “a test of Syrian authorities’ efforts to pursue credible justice for Assad era abuses.”
“Criminal proceedings need to meet international fair trial standards. That also means abolishing the death penalty,” HRW’s Balkees Jarrah said in a statement, urging authorities to “adopt a transitional justice law that sets out a clear legal process for these cases.”
Syria’s national commission for transitional justice called the ruling against Najib “an important milestone in the process of accountability for grave crimes.”
The Assad family ruled Syria for more than five decades, with Bashar taking the presidency in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez.
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