World·NewA Syrian court sentenced ousted Syrian president Bashar al-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.Assad's brother, maternal cousin also sentenced for crimes committed in government, military rolesThe Associated Press · Posted: Aug 11, 2026 7:32 AM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesThe audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.Maher al-Assad, left, and his brother Bashar, right, are shown on June 13, 2000 at the funeral of their father. Bashar Assad would go on to succeed his father as Syrian leader, before fleeing in the final weeks of 2024. (Ramzi Haidar/AFP/Getty Images)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 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. CBC InvestigatesHis brother was disappeared by the Assad regime. 13 years later, leaked photos confirm how he diedSyrian authorities arrest suspected leader of notorious Tadamon massacreAlso 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. LISTEN | The Observer's Chloe Hadjimatheou on British wife of Assad:Front Burner36:28How Syria's former first lady aided the bloody regimeNajib accused of brutal crackdownsNajib, who was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in April 2011, was later detained and is one of the highest-ranking officials to be put on trial.He 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. Atef Najib, a brigadier general and former head of the political security department in Daraa, accused of overseeing the torture of prisoners, is shown in court in Damascus on April 26. (Khalil Ashawi/Reuters)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 spiralled into a 14-year civil war that ended with Assad's ouster in a lightning rebel offensive. Syrian Canadians waited years to return. For many, coming home has been harder than leaving6 siblings forcibly disappeared in 2013 by Assad regime confirmed dead, family saysMaher Assad was a former commander of the Syrian military's 4th Armoured Division which Syrian opposition activists have accused of killings, torture, extortion and drug trafficking, in addition to running its own detention centres.