The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus, Syria, sentenced ousted President Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother Maher to death in absentia on Tuesday, August 11, for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country’s devastating 14-year civil war that left around half a million people dead.
The ruling marks the first convictions against Bashar al-Assad or his close allies since the Assad family’s five-decade rule ended in December 2024.
Judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan said during a court session broadcast live on Syrian state television: “Bashar Assad used state agencies to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Another maternal cousin of Assad, Atef Najib, has also been ordered executed. The former Brigadier General and security officer appeared in court in a cage dressed up in prison garb while the verdict was being announced. He was charged for his part in the government crackdown in the southern province of Daraa, which triggered the revolution against Assad.
In March 2011, several teenagers had been arrested and tortured for putting up graffiti against the government at a local school in Daraa. It was the mistreatment of these teenagers that led to protests that escalated into a civil war.
Najib can appeal this decision.
Attorney Adnan al-Masalmeh, who represented families of Najib’s victims, said: “Today is the day of justice for all the wounded, martyrs, detainees and Syrians who were forced to leave their country.”
Bashar and Maher Assad both fled to Russia following the government’s fall and received political asylum. Syria’s new leaders have called on Moscow to hand them over.
2026-08-11 18:28:00
