ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Syrian criminal court on Tuesday sentenced former President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, convicting him of premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity committed during the country’s nearly 14-year conflict.
Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan of the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus announced the verdicts on Tuesday in a landmark trial, saying investigations and witness testimonies had established the involvement of Assad and other senior officials in crimes committed during the crackdown on the Syrian uprising.
“The criminal Bashar Hafez al-Assad’s contribution to these crimes was that of the supreme decision-maker, and he utilized the state apparatus to carry them out,” Aryan said while reading the verdict.
The verdicts marked the first major death sentences against Assad and senior members of his former security establishment under Syria’s transitional authorities, which came to power after the former regime collapsed in December 2024.
The court convicted Assad of “the felony of premeditated and intentional murder of more than one person and of children, the felony of torture and arbitrary detention, and of committing crimes against humanity,” before issuing capital punishment.
The court also sentenced Assad’s cousin Atif Najib, the former head of the Political Security branch in Daraa, to death.
Aryan said investigations and witness testimonies had proven Najib’s involvement in interrogating detainees following the outbreak of protests in Daraa in 2011.
“The Political Security branch in Daraa, which was led by Atif Najib, stormed the Omari Mosque in Daraa along with other security branches,” the judge said.
“Atif Najib was leading the security campaign against civilians in Daraa at the beginning of the Syrian Revolution,” he added.
The court ruled that the acts attributed to Najib constituted crimes against humanity. It also found him guilty of premeditated murder, the intentional killing of children under 15 and torture leading to death.
Najib, who was arrested in January 2025, was the only defendant present in court. Al-Aryan said he had denied the charges and showed “no remorse.”
Other officials sentenced
The court also issued death sentences in absentia against seven former senior military and security officials, including Assad’s younger brother Maher al-Assad, the former commander of Syria’s elite Fourth Division.
Those sentenced were former Defense Minister Fahd Jassim al-Freij, Mohammed Ayman Ayoush, Louay Ali al-Ali, Qusay Ibrahim Mahyoub, Wafiq Saleh Nasser and Talal Faris al-Aisami.
Aryan said the fugitives were convicted of “the felony of premeditated and intentional murder and torture leading to death.”
The court proceedings began in April against Assad and other officials accused of atrocities committed during the civil war. Assad was tried in absentia after fleeing Syria for Russia following the opposition offensive that captured Damascus.
The conflict began in March 2011 when protests erupted in Daraa after 15 students were arrested for allegedly writing anti-government slogans on the walls of their school.
The crackdown on the protests developed into a nationwide uprising and eventually a devastating civil war. More than 500,000 people were killed, millions were displaced and tens of thousands disappeared during the conflict.
Assad became president in 2000 following the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad, and ruled Syria for nearly 25 years before opposition forces led by Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham seized Damascus on December 8, 2024.
The collapse of his government ended more than five decades of Assad family rule. Assad subsequently fled to Russia.
