Ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has been sentenced to death.
Damascus, Syria - A Syrian court has sentenced former ruler Bashar al-Assad and a security official to death in absentia, after convicting them over charges including "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity" during the country's civil war.
The ruling against Assad, who fled with his family to Moscow as Islamist-led forces closed in on Damascus in December 2024, is the first under the transitional authorities who this year began trying figures from the former government, both in person and in absentia.
Also sentenced to death was security official Atif Najib. A cousin of al-Assad, Najib was arrested in January last year, accused of crimes including murder, "the intentional killing of children under 15", and "torture leading to death".
The acts attributed to him are "crimes against humanity", the court said as it handed down "the harshest punishment against him, which is the death penalty".
