Former Syrian President Assad sentenced to death in absentia

Former Syrian President Assad sentenced to death in absentia 1 of 3 | In this Dec. 9, 2010 file photo, Syria President Bashar al-Assad arrives at the Elysee Palace in Paris for his meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere, File) 2 of 3 | Bashar Assad, right, and his brother Maher Assad, center, stand during the funeral of their father, former President Hafez Assad, in Damascus, Syria, June 13, 2000. (AP Photo, File) 3 of 3 | FILE -Atef Najib, former head of the Political Security Branch in the Daraa area during Bashar Assad’s rule, sits in the defendants’ cage during a trial session at the Palace of Justice in Damascus, Syria, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed), File) 1 of 3 | In this Dec. 9, 2010 file photo, Syria President Bashar al-Assad arrives at the Elysee Palace in Paris for his meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere, File) 1 of 3 In this Dec. 9, 2010 file photo, Syria President Bashar al-Assad arrives at the Elysee Palace in Paris for his meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 3 | Bashar Assad, right, and his brother Maher Assad, center, stand during the funeral of their father, former President Hafez Assad, in Damascus, Syria, June 13, 2000. (AP Photo, File) 2 of 3 Bashar Assad, right, and his brother Maher Assad, center, stand during the funeral of their father, former President Hafez Assad, in Damascus, Syria, June 13, 2000. (AP Photo, File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 3 | FILE -Atef Najib, former head of the Political Security Branch in the Daraa area during Bashar Assad’s rule, sits in the defendants’ cage during a trial session at the Palace of Justice in Damascus, Syria, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed), File) 3 of 3 FILE -Atef Najib, former head of the Political Security Branch in the Daraa area during Bashar Assad’s rule, sits in the defendants’ cage during a trial session at the Palace of Justice in Damascus, Syria, April 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed), File) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] Damascus, Syria (AP) — A Syrian court sentenced ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad along with his younger brother to death in absentia on Tuesday for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria’s 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead.The sentences at the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus are the first against Assad or members of his inner circle since the Assad family’s five decades in power came to an end 20 months ago.“Bashar Assad used state agencies to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity,” said judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan during a court session that was aired live on state TV. Also sentenced to death in the same case was Assad’s maternal cousin Atef Najib, who was convicted of overseeing a crackdown in the southern province of Daraa that led to the uprising and later the civil war.Amid tight security, Najib stood inside a cage wearing a prisoner’s uniform as the judge read the sentence. A crowd of people gathered outside the courthouse in central Damascus to hear the verdict. Assad and his brother Maher fled to Russia after the government’s fall in December 2024 and received political asylum. Syria’s new rulers have asked Russia to hand the Assads over. Najib, who was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in April 2011, was later detained and is one of the highest-ranking officials to be put on trial. 3 MIN READ 1 MIN READ 3 MIN READ Najib is a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria’s Daraa province under 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 Assad’s security forces.The protests were met by a brutal government crackdown and spiraled into a 14-year civil war that ended with Assad’s ouster in a lightning rebel offensive. Maher Assad was a former commander of the Syrian military’s 4th Armored Division — which Syrian opposition activists have accused of killings, torture, extortion and drug trafficking, in addition to running its own detention centers. This story has been edited to correct that Bashar and Maher Assad fled to Russia following the collapse of their government in December 2024, not December 2014.