Syrian court sentences Bashar al-Assad and brother to death

The Fourth Criminal Court of Damascus sentenced ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother, Maher al-Assad, to death in absentia on Tuesday. The court found them guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the 14-year Syrian civil war, a conflict that resulted in approximately 500,000 deaths. This marks the first such ruling against Assad or his inner circle since the five-decade rule of the Assad family ended in December 2024. Presiding Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan stated during a televised hearing that Bashar al-Assad had utilised state institutions to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity. Atef Najib, Assad’s maternal cousin and former head of political security in Daraa province, was also sentenced to death. The court held him responsible for overseeing the crackdown in Daraa in 2011, which served as a catalyst for the uprising against the regime and the subsequent civil war. Najib, who was present in the courtroom, heard the verdict while in custody. The 2011 unrest began after more than a dozen teenagers were detained and tortured for writing anti-government slogans on a school wall in Daraa. The regime's violent response triggered a nationwide uprising that eventually led to the 14-year conflict, which concluded following a rapid rebel offensive that ousted Assad. Bashar and Maher al-Assad fled to Russia in December 2024, where they were granted political asylum. Syria’s new authorities have requested their extradition from Moscow. Najib, who was sanctioned by the US Treasury in 2011, remains one of the highest-ranking security officials from the Assad era to face trial. Victims of Najib’s security apparatus attended the hearing, with some expressing relief that the judicial process had begun. Maher al-Assad previously commanded the Syrian Army's Fourth Armoured Division, a unit accused by activists of murder, torture, extortion, drug trafficking, and operating private detention centres. Hiba Zayadin, a Syria researcher at Human Rights Watch, noted that while the proceedings reflect 15 years of denied justice, the organisation opposes the death penalty in all cases, citing its cruel and irreversible nature. Zayadin emphasised that Najib has the right to appeal and that true accountability for the Assad era depends on the establishment of a sustainable and fair judicial system in Syria.