A Syrian court has sentenced former President Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother, Maher al-Assad, to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during Syria’s 14-year conflict, according to the Associated Press.
The ruling, issued by the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus, marks the first death sentences against Assad or members of his inner circle since the Assad family’s decades-long rule ended in December 2024.
Assad and Maher fled to Russia after the fall of the government and were granted political asylum. Syria’s new authorities have requested that Russia hand them over.
Also sentenced to death was Atef Najib, Assad’s maternal cousin and a former Syrian army brigadier general who oversaw security operations in Daraa. He was convicted over a crackdown that included the arrest and torture of teenagers whose anti-government graffiti helped spark the protests that eventually developed into the Syrian civil war.
