A Syrian court has sentenced former President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia after finding him guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country’s civil war, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The verdict marks the first known ruling against Assad under Syria’s transitional authorities since the fall of his government.
Assad fled Syria with his family and sought refuge in Moscow in December 2024, after Islamist-led forces advanced towards Damascus and brought an end to his decades-long rule.
The transitional authorities have since begun prosecuting figures from the former government, both in person and in absentia. The death sentence against Assad is the first such ruling against the former president under the new administration.
The court also sentenced Atif Najib, a former official in Assad’s government, to death for crimes against humanity. Najib previously headed the political security branch in Daraa province, which became the epicentre of the uprising that erupted in Syria in 2011.
Najib, a cousin of Assad, was arrested in January last year. The court found him guilty of several serious offences, including killings, the deliberate killing of children under the age of 15, and deaths resulting from torture.
The cases form part of broader efforts by Syria’s transitional authorities to hold senior figures from the former regime accountable for alleged abuses committed during the country’s long-running conflict.
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