A court in Damascus on Tuesday sentenced the exiled former dictator Bashar al-Assad and eight ex-officials in his regime to death after finding them guilty of premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity. Photo by Sana news agency/EPA
Aug. 11 (UPI) -- A court in Damascus on Tuesday sentenced the exiled former dictator Bashar al-Assad and eight ex-officials to death after finding them guilty of premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity.
The sentences, the first since rebels toppled the regime in December 2024, were handed down in a trial presided over by the country's most senior judge, prosecuted by the attorney-general and the Commission for Transitional Justice and in the presence of victims' families and international human rights groups.
Judge Fake al-Din al-Aryran said Assad was convicted of crimes against humanity and other offenses as he was the ultimate decision-maker and that he was in charge of the state institutions that carried out the violations.
Atef Najib, Assad's cousin who served as the political security chief in the country's southern Daraa governorate, and brother, Maher Hafez al-Assad, were also sentenced to death along with Defense Minister Fahd Jassem al-Freij, Mohammad Ayman Ayoush, Louay Ali al-Ali, Qusay Ibrahim Mahyoub, Wafiq Saleh Nasser and Talal Fares al-Aysami.
