Damascus: A criminal court in Damascus on Tuesday sentenced former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia after convicting them of crimes against humanity and other offenses, the SANA news agency reported. The Fourth Criminal Court also sentenced Assad's cousin Atef Najib, the former head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa, and six other fugitives - Fahd Jassem al-Freij, Mohammed Ayman Ayoush, Louay al-Ali, Qusai Ibrahim Mhayoub, Wafiq Saleh Nasser, and Talal Fares al-Asimi - to death.
According to Anadolu Agency, Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan stated that Assad's role in the crimes was that of 'the highest decision-maker' and that he had utilized state institutions to facilitate their commission. The court convicted Assad of premeditated murder of multiple victims, including children, torture, arbitrary detention, and crimes against humanity, sentencing him to death in absentia.
The court also convicted Najib, who is in detention, of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to death. Maher al-Assad and the six other fugitives were convicted of premeditated murder, torture resulting in death, and crimes against humanity, as reported by SANA. The court further requested the international prosecution of the eight fugitives and ordered international arrest warrants against them.
The verdict was delivered during the ninth hearing of the case, attended by Syria's attorney general, the head of the National Transitional Justice Commission, representatives of international legal and human rights organizations, and relatives of victims. In the first official domestic reaction to the verdict, National Transitional Justice Commission chief Abdul Basit Abdul Latif described the ruling as 'an important milestone on the path to justice, redressing victims and consolidating the rule of law.'
Abdul Latif emphasized that the ruling signifies progress in seeking justice and restoring the rule of law, although it is not the final step. He expressed this sentiment on the US social media platform X. This ruling marks the first death sentence issued by a Syrian court against Bashar al-Assad since his overthrow.
Assad, who succeeded his father Hafez al-Assad in 2000, ruled Syria for nearly 25 years before fleeing to Russia on December 8, 2024, thus ending more than five decades of Baath Party rule that began in 1963. A transitional administration led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa took office in January 2025. The trial focused on crimes committed by senior officials of the former Syrian government, including Najib, who headed the Political Security Branch in Daraa.
Under Assad's rule, his government faced repeated accusations from the UN, international human rights organizations, and Western governments of widespread violations, including mass killings, torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and the use of chemical weapons. Following Assad's overthrow, Syria's transitional authorities established accountability and transitional justice mechanisms to investigate crimes committed under the former government, making Tuesday's ruling the most significant judicial step in that process to date.