A Syrian court has sentenced former president Bashar al-Assad to death. The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus handed down the verdict after finding evidence of his direct involvement in crimes committed against the Syrian people through officials working on the ground.
The court’s chief judge, Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan, announced the ruling on Thursday in a statement to the state news agency SANA.
He said the court based its verdict on evidence that established Assad’s responsibility through orders passed from the top leadership to those who carried out crimes on the ground, and through the military and administrative chain of command. The court also reviewed documents showing his involvement in sending direct orders to the perpetrators.
Judge al-Aryan said Assad was not sentenced to death merely for having served as president.
On 11 August the same court sentenced Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad and seven other fugitive officials to death in absentia. In the same case, Atef Najib, the former head of political security in Daraa province, was sentenced to death in person.
They were convicted of crimes committed during the crackdown on anti-government protests in Daraa province in 2011. The crimes included murder, torture, unlawful detention, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The August verdict rested on a 396-page judicial decision. It set out the crimes, the evidence and testimony from victims and witnesses about events in Daraa at the start of the Syrian revolution.
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