A Damascus court has sentenced nine persons, including former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, to death for crimes against humanity.
Assad fled Damascus in December 2024 and has been living in Moscow along with his brother Maher and other relatives.
The court convicted Assad of premeditated murder of multiple people, including children, as well as torture and arbitrary detention.
Assad’s maternal cousin Atef Najib was also tried in prison and sentenced to death of charged of murder and torture. He was charged primarily for leading the crackdown in the southern province of Daraa that eventually led to the uprising and the civil war.
Najib was the former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria’s Daraa province under Assad in 2011.
He was indicted on charges including killing, torture and arbitrary detention, participation in the suppression of peaceful protests using live ammunition, and systematic mass killings and torture of detainees resulting in death inside detention centres.
The Fourth Criminal Court has ordered that Bashar and Maher al-Assad be pursued internationally.
Assad fled to Russia with his brother Maher after Ahmad Al Shara, now President, led insurgents to Damascus.
The family’s rule was ended in 11 days.
The Syrian government has captured and tried hundreds of former officials and security operatives. However the most of the former regime's ruling family and top leaders are currently in hiding in Russia.
A BBC investigation report earlier this week revealed that Hossam Luka ‘The Spider ’, one of the top figures close to the dictator, was also in hiding in Russia. He has been accused of serious atrocities and planning systematic violence behind the scenes, and has been subject to sanctions by the UK, US and EU.
