Tuesday, August 11th 2026 - 09:21 UTC
Russia granted asylum to Assad and his brother, making enforcement of the sentence unfeasible while they remain in that country
A criminal court in Damascus sentenced former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia on Tuesday for premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity. Assad was ousted in December 2024 and is living in exile in Moscow. It is the first public sentence handed down against the man who governed Syria for more than two decades.
Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Uryan, of criminal court number 4, also sentenced eight other people to death, among them Maher al-Assad, the former president's brother, and Atef Najib, maternal cousin of both and the only defendant present in the courtroom. Najib heard the ruling in the defendants' cage, wearing a prison uniform, under heavy security.
“The contribution of the criminal Bashar al-Assad to the crimes was that of the ultimate decision-maker, who mobilized state institutions to commit them,” the judge said as he read the verdict. The court found him guilty of the intentional killing of more than one person and of children, as well as of torture and arbitrary detention.
