Syria’s former President Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother Maher were sentenced to death on Tuesday on charges of “crimes against humanity” and “war crimes” during Syria’s 14-year conflict that has left around half a million people dead, AP reported.
Assad’s cousin also sentenced to death
In the same case, Assad’s maternal cousin Atef Najib was also sentenced to death for leading the crackdown in the southern province of Daraa that led to the uprising and triggered the civil war.
As a Syrian judge read the sentencing, Najib stood his ground inside a cage wearing a prisoner’s uniform with a crowd gathered outside the courthouse in Damascus.
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Judge accuses Assad of war crimes
“Bashar Assad used state agencies to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan said during the court session, AP reported, citing state TV.
The sentencing against Assad and his family members is the first since the former President’s family’s five decades of rule came to an end 20 months ago.
Assad brothers fled to Russia
After an uprising in the country against the government, Assad and his brother Maher fled Syria in December 2024 and received political asylum under President Vladimir Putin’s administration. Syria’s new government has urged Moscow to hand over the Assad brothers.
Daraa crackdown sparked protests
The protests in Syria began in 2011 when Najib was a brigadier general in the Syrian military and was heading the Political Security Branch in Daraa province.
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It was during his tenure that over a dozen teenagers were arrested and allegedly tortured for drawing anti-government graffiti on a school wall in Daraa, AP reported.
Protests spiralled into civil war
The matter became a turning point in Syrian history as protests against the Assad regime began with brutal government crackdown.
The internal conflict spiralled into a civil war and dragged on for 14-years that ended Assad’s regime and led to him fleeing the country amid rebel offensive.
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