Bashar al-Assad, Atef Najib sentenced to death in landmark Syria trial

What the report says

Syria’s Criminal Court in Damascus has sentenced former President Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad and cousin Atef Najib to death in a major case tied to abuses during the country’s nearly 14-year war, according to Al Jazeera. The ruling, issued on Tuesday, found Bashar al-Assad guilty in absentia of premeditated murder, torture and crimes against humanity. Al-Jazeera reported that he was toppled in December 2024 and now lives in exile in Russia.

Maher al-Assad, who is also said to be living in Russia, was sentenced in absentia for premeditated murder and torture. Najib, described as the former head of political security in southern Syria’s Deraa province, was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity after being detained by Syrian authorities in January last year. Al Jazeera said he stood in a cage in a prison uniform as the judge read the decision.

The court linked Najib to a crackdown on protests in Deraa in 2011 that helped spark the wider uprising and later civil war. Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan said witness testimony showed Bashar al-Assad was the highest decision-maker and used state institutions to carry out the crimes. Al Jazeera said this is the first such ruling under Syria’s transitional authorities, which began trying former government figures this year, and that it may become an important precedent for accountability efforts.