A Syrian court sentenced ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia on Tuesday, along with his younger brother and maternal cousin Atef Najib for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria’s 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead.
Assad’s maternal cousin was sentenced to death for leading the crackdown in the southern province of Daraa that led to the uprising and later the civil war. Najib is a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria’s Daraa province under Assad in 2011. Najib is detained and became one of the highest-ranking officials to be put on trial.
Bashar and Maher Al-Assad fled to Russia after opposition fighters led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa marched into Damascus in December 2024, effectively ending the war in the country.
