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A Syrian court sentenced ousted president Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia after convicting him of premeditated murder, the intentional killing of more than one person, the killing of children under 15, torture resulting in death and multiple counts of unlawful deprivation of liberty, all designated as crimes against humanity and war crimes, Reuters reported. The verdict, issued on August 11 by Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan in Damascus, also imposed the death penalty on Atef Najib, Assad’s cousin and a former political security chief in Daraa. Najib stood trial in person after his arrest in January 2025. The judge declared, “He is therefore sentenced to death.”
This is the first death sentence pronounced by the transitional authorities who seized control following Assad’s ouster in December 2024, according to AFP. The former leader and his family fled to Moscow as opposition fighters advanced on the Syrian capital at that time. Proceedings against members of the former government, including trials in absentia, started in April. The nearly 14-year conflict grew out of the regime’s crackdown on demonstrators calling for political reform.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights has documented at least 202,000 civilian deaths inflicted by regime forces throughout the war. That total encompasses 23,058 children and 12,010 women, the group reported. Its figures further record 96,321 instances of enforced disappearance and 15,102 fatalities caused by torture in detention centres run by the authorities.
International warrants for Assad’s arrest have been issued by France over the use of chemical weapons and specific attacks that killed dual nationals, developments noted in reports from 2025. Russia, where Assad has taken refuge, has not indicated any willingness to extradite the former president. The Damascus court lacks mechanisms to enforce its ruling beyond Syrian territory.
Additional trials targeting lower-ranking officials from the Assad era are expected to follow as the new government continues its accountability process, Deutsche Welle reported. The focus on Daraa in Najib’s conviction highlights the origins of the uprising that ultimately toppled the regime after more than a decade of fighting. Atif Najib, as he is also known in some accounts, faced charges directly linked to the initial repression in that southern city.
