Former Syrian President al-Assad sentenced to death in absentia for war crimes
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- Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher were sentenced to death in absentia by a Damascus court for premeditated murder, torture, and crimes against humanity committed during Syria's 14-year civil war, which left roughly 500,000 people dead.
- Six other former officials also received death sentences in absentia; the only one in custody is Atef Najib, al-Assad's maternal cousin and a former army brigadier-general who ran political security in Daraa province and stood trial inside a courtroom cage.
- The verdicts are the first against al-Assad or any of his inner circle since he and Maher fled to Russia and received asylum following the stunning collapse of his government in December 2024.
- Najib's tenure in Daraa saw the arrest and torture of teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a school wall — the case that became the catalyst for 2011 mass protests that spiraled into full-scale civil war.
- Human Rights Watch and the Washington-based Syria Justice and Accountability Center flagged rushed proceedings, weak defense counsel, and witness testimony that did not connect Najib to the specific crimes charged, warning that real accountability depends on a sustainable justice system.
- Judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan read the verdicts live on state TV — a deliberate contrast to al-Assad-era trials, which were conducted in secret.
Why it matters: The al-Assad verdict is largely symbolic — he is sheltered in Russia with no extradition path — but it answers frustration among Syrians who say the new government has moved too slowly against regime-era figures. The only verdict with real teeth is Najib's: he is in custody, his Daraa crackdown triggered the 2011 uprising that became the civil war, and rights groups say fair-trial flaws could jeopardize his appeal.
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