A criminal court in Damascus has sentenced former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to death, according to reports from the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
As reported by the Operative Information Center-OMM, the court found al-Assad guilty of crimes against humanity. The former president was not present during the proceedings, and the verdict was delivered in absentia.
The court's ruling also extended to Atef Najib, al-Assad's cousin and a former brigadier general who headed the political security division in Syria's Daraa province. Najib, who was arrested and appeared in court, was also sentenced to death. The legal proceedings focused on the violent suppression of protests that began in Daraa in 2011, including charges of murder, torture, and other severe crimes. While Najib faced trial in person, Bashar al-Assad and his brother, Maher al-Assad, were tried in absentia.
This judicial decision marks a significant development in the ongoing efforts to hold high-ranking officials of the former Assad administration accountable for actions taken during the Syrian conflict, which has had profound geopolitical implications across the Middle East since 2011.
