On August 11, former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and former head of political security in Deraa province Atef Najib were sentenced to death. The court found them guilty of crimes committed during the Syrian civil war.
This was reported by Al Jazeera and SANA.
The Criminal Court in Damascus today found Assad guilty of premeditated murder. He was tried in absentia. Najib was convicted of premeditated murder and torture.
The court also found that crimes committed by Assad’s government in Deraa province in 2011 amounted to crimes against humanity.
Background. Bashar al-Assad led Syria from 2000, succeeding his father Hafez al-Assad. During his rule, Syria maintained close relations with Russia, while Assad himself met Vladimir Putin on numerous occasions. In 2014, Syria sided with Moscow over occupied Crimea, and after Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, Assad publicly supported Russia’s actions.
In December 2024, after the fall of his regime, Assad left Damascus and moved to Russia with his family. He later said that his evacuation had been organised by the Russian side. In January 2025, Syria’s new authorities demanded that Moscow extradite the former president.
