A portrait of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad riddled with bullets, which adorned the municipal building of Hama, after it was defaced following the city’s capture by rebels on Dec. 6, 2024. (Credit: Omar Haj Kadour/AFP)
A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced ousted President Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher and several other former officials to death for crimes committed during the country’s civil war, in the first verdicts against members of the former regime.
The transitional authorities, which overthrew Assad in December 2024 after 13 years of devastating civil war, have pledged to bring those responsible for crimes under his rule to justice. In April, prosecutors opened proceedings against Assad and other former officials. NGOs and foreign governments have stressed the importance of transitional justice for Syria’s future.
In a Damascus court, Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan found Assad guilty of “crimes against humanity and war crimes,” including “premeditated murder, intentional killing of several people, intentional killing of children under 15 years old, ... torture resulting in death and deprivation of liberty.”
“He is therefore sentenced to death,” the judge said.
Assad was sentenced in absentia after fleeing to Moscow in December 2024 with a small group of close associates as Islamist-led forces advanced toward Damascus. He left behind senior officials and security figures, some of whom fled abroad or sought refuge in the coastal stronghold of Syria’s Alawite minority, from which his family hails.
The Syrian civil war began after the violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings across the region. More than half a million people were killed and millions displaced. Tens of thousands disappeared, many of them victims of widespread abuses in government prisons.
Only one defendant present
The court also sentenced several former military and security officials to death in absentia, including Assad’s brother Maher, who commanded the army’s elite 4th Division and also fled the country.
Former Defense Minister Fahd al-Freij and Louay al-Ali, who headed military intelligence in Daraa province, the birthplace of the 2011 uprising, were also sentenced to death. They were found guilty of “murder, torture resulting in death and repeated deprivation of liberty,” which the court classified as crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The only defendant to appear in court, Atef Najib, was also sentenced to death for crimes against humanity. He was head of political security in Daraa when the uprising began in March 2011.
The uprising began after 15 students were arrested for allegedly writing anti-government slogans on the walls of the city. Residents said the students were tortured, prompting protests demanding their release. The demonstrations were violently suppressed, with security forces using live ammunition against protesters.
Najib was removed from his post as protests spread to other provinces. Judge Aryan said he had denied the charges and shown “no remorse.”
The fall of Assad, who succeeded his father Hafez in 2000, ended more than five decades of rule by the Assad family.
