Syria Settles Score with Assad: Death Sentence for Ousted President

A Damascus court sentenced ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher, and their cousin Atef Najib to death for crimes committed during the suppression of protests. The brothers were tried in absentia after fleeing to Russia. Najib, who is in custody, was brought to court. The conviction includes killing, torture, and war crimes.

A Damascus court on Tuesday sentenced ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad, and their cousin Atef Najib to death for crimes committed during the suppression of protests. The sentence was handed down in absentia for the Assad brothers, who fled Syria after the fall of the regime in December 2024. According to reports in Syria, the three were convicted of offenses related to the violent suppression of protests, including killing, torture, and arbitrary arrests. The Associated Press reported that the court also convicted them of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the Syrian civil war. Unlike Bashar and Maher, Atef Najib is in custody in Syria and was brought to court under heavy security. Najib headed the political security apparatus in Daraa in 2011, when children who wrote anti-regime graffiti were arrested, an event that sparked widespread protests. Najib was arrested in January 2025 in Latakia province. The prosecution had demanded the death penalty last week, and the court postponed its decision to August 11. Bashar al-Assad is currently in Russia, and there is no practical possibility of carrying out the sentence without his extradition.