Syria’s former president Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad and Atef Najib, the former political security chief of the southern Syrian province of Daraa, have been sentenced to death.
A criminal court in Damascus delivered the verdict on Tuesday. The court found Bashar al-Assad guilty of the premeditated murder of several people, including children, as well as torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity.
Atef Najib was accused of murder, torture and arbitrary detention, of taking part in suppressing peaceful protests with gunfire, and of systematically carrying out mass killing and torture inside detention centres.
Najib’s trial was held in his presence, while Bashar and Maher al-Assad were tried in absentia. The fourth criminal court also ordered an international operation to arrest Bashar and Maher al-Assad.
The court said the investigation and witness testimony had proved that Najib was involved in interrogating detainees and in a security operation against civilians after protests began in Daraa in 2011.
The Assad government fell in 2024 in an offensive of just 11 days led by fighters under Syria’s current president, Ahmad al-Sharaa. Assad then fled to Moscow.
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