Syrian Court Sentences Bashar Assad, Brother to Death in Absentia for War Crimes

A Syrian court has sentenced former President Bashar Assad and his younger brother Maher to death in absentia, the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus announced Tuesday. The convictions are for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during Syria's 14-year conflict.

Bashar Assad, the ousted president, was found to have used state agencies to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to Judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan. The sentences mark the first against Assad or members of his inner circle since the end of his family's five-decade rule.

Also sentenced to death in the same case was Atef Najib, Assad's maternal cousin. Najib was convicted for overseeing a crackdown in the southern province of Daraa that reportedly ignited the uprising and subsequent civil war. Najib, a former brigadier general and head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa in 2011, was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in April 2011. During his tenure, more than a dozen teenagers were arrested and tortured after allegedly scrawling anti-government graffiti on a school wall in Daraa, an event that became a catalyst for mass protests against the Syrian government.

Maher Assad, a former commander of the Syrian military's 4th Armored Division, was accused by Syrian opposition activists of involvement in killings, torture, extortion, and drug trafficking, as well as operating detention centers.

The conflict, which began with protests against the Assad regime's repressive policies, escalated into a civil war that has resulted in approximately half a million deaths and ended with Assad's ouster in a rebel offensive in December 2024. Following their government's fall, Bashar and Maher Assad reportedly fled to Russia, where they received political asylum. Syria's current leadership has requested their extradition from Russia.

Amid tight security, Najib stood in a prisoner's uniform inside a cage as the verdict was read. A crowd gathered outside the courthouse in central Damascus to hear the proceedings, which were aired live on state television.