In a dramatic turn of events, a Syrian legal body has declared ex-president Bashar al-Assad and his younger sibling sentenced to death in absentia. The charges include crimes against humanity and war crimes amid Syria’s brutal conflict that lasted for nearly 14 years, claiming the lives of nearly half a million citizens.
This ruling from Damascus’s Fourth Criminal Court marks the first time al-Assad or his close associates have faced such judicial action since their family’s five-decade dominion came crashing down 20 months ago.
During a televised court session, Judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan pronounced, “Bashar Assad utilized governmental institutions to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Following the collapse of their regime in December 2024, al-Assad and his brother Maher escaped to Russia, seeking refuge. The new leadership in Syria is seeking their extradition from Russia.
Equally sentenced was their cousin, Atef Najib. He was found guilty of orchestrating a harsh crackdown in Daraa, a move that ignited the uprising and ensuing civil war.
Al-Aryan said Najib — who did not flee to Russia and has been detained in Syria since early 2025 — can appeal.
Under tight security, Najib stood in a cage, wearing a prisoner’s uniform, as the judge read the sentence.
A crowd gathered outside the courthouse in central Damascus to hear the verdict.
“Today is the day of justice for all the wounded, martyrs, detainees and Syrians who were forced to leave their country,” lawyer Adnan al-Masalmeh, who represented families of Najib’s victims, said.
“Today marks a victory of right against injustice, a victory of the Syrian people against the ousted regime.”
Najib, who was sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury in April 2011, is one of the highest-ranking security officials to be put on trial.
Najib is a former army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in Syria’s southern Daraa province under al-Assad in 2011.
During his tenure, more than a dozen teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on a school wall in Daraa were arrested and tortured.
The case became a catalyst for mass protests against the repressive policies of al-Assad’s security forces.
The protests were met by a brutal government crackdown that spiralled into a 14-year civil war that ended with al-Assad’s removal in a lightning rebel offensive.
Maher al-Assad was a former commander of the Syrian military’s 4th Armoured Division — which opposition activists have accused of killings, torture, extortion and drug trafficking, as well as running its own detention centres.
“Today’s scenes outside the courthouse reflect 15 years of pain and a justice long denied. Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all cases, including this one,” Hiba Zayadin, Syria researcher at Human Rights Watch, said.
“It’s cruel and irreversible, especially when a fair trial isn’t guaranteed.”
Zayadin said Najib had the right to appeal, and that process “needs to meet fair trial standards too”.
Real accountability for Assad-era crimes depended on Syria building a justice system that lasted, she said.