Syria Sentences Bashar al-Assad to Death for War Crimes

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

(Worthy News) – A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced ousted President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, marking the first criminal conviction against the former dictator since his government collapsed in December 2024.

The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus convicted Assad of premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity connected to the brutal suppression of opposition during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war. His brother Maher al-Assad, the former commander of Syria’s feared 4th Armored Division, was also sentenced to death.

Former Syrian security chief Atef Najib, Assad’s cousin, received the same sentence. Unlike the Assad brothers, Najib was present for his trial. He headed political security in Daraa when the arrest and torture of teenagers accused of writing anti-government graffiti helped ignite the 2011 uprising against Assad’s rule.

Assad fled Syria for Russia in December 2024 as rebel forces swept into Damascus, ending more than five decades of Assad family rule. Moscow subsequently granted Assad and his family asylum, making implementation of Tuesday’s sentence unlikely unless Russia agrees to extradite him.

The Syrian war that followed the 2011 uprising devastated the country, killed roughly half a million people, displaced millions and produced one of the largest refugee crises in modern Middle Eastern history.

Tuesday’s ruling represents a dramatic reversal for a ruler who once appeared firmly entrenched with the military backing of Russia and Iran. Less than two years after losing Damascus, Assad is now an exile facing a death sentence from the country he ruled for nearly a quarter-century.

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