DAMASCUS: A Syrian court has sentenced former President Bashar Assad and his younger brother to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the country’s protracted civil conflict.
Information was available with The Chenab Times that the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus issued the sentences on Tuesday, marking the first judicial pronouncements against Assad or his close associates since the family’s five-decade rule ended. The court found Bashar Assad guilty of utilizing state institutions to perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity, as announced by Judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan during a session broadcast on state television.
Also condemned to death in the same proceedings was Atef Najib, Assad’s maternal cousin, who was convicted of overseeing a security crackdown in the southern Daraa province. This crackdown is widely seen as a pivotal event that ignited the uprising and subsequently escalated into the civil war. Najib, dressed in a prisoner’s uniform, stood in a cage as the verdict was read amid heightened security measures outside the courthouse in central Damascus.
Assad and his brother Maher reportedly fled to Russia following the government’s collapse in December 2024 and have been granted political asylum. Syria’s new leadership has formally requested their extradition from Russia. Atef Najib, who had been previously sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in April 2011, is among the highest-ranking officials to face trial. He previously served as the head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa province.
During Najib’s tenure in 2011, over a dozen teenagers were arrested and allegedly tortured for inscribing anti-government graffiti on a school wall in Daraa. This incident served as a significant catalyst for widespread protests against the repressive policies of the security forces under the Assad regime. The protests were met with a harsh government response, which ultimately spiralled into a 14-year civil war, culminating in Assad’s ouster following a swift rebel offensive.
Maher Assad was formerly the commander of the Syrian military’s 4th Armored Division. Opposition activists have accused this division of numerous human rights abuses, including killings, torture, extortion, and drug trafficking, in addition to operating its own detention facilities. The conflict, which began in 2011, has resulted in approximately half a million deaths and displaced millions of people, reshaping the nation’s political and social landscape.
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The Chenab Times News Desk
