Syrian Court Sentences Bashar al-Assad to Death In Absentia
Former leader, now in Moscow, faces first legal judgment since his December 2024 overthrow.
Sarah Connor
A Syrian court has sentenced former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia.
He remains in Russia, understood to live in three apartments within a luxury high-rise, complete with a mall downstairs, in Moscow.
Opposition forces captured Damascus in December 2024.
Atef Najib, a senior security official who served under Bashar al-Assad, also received a death sentence.
Najib was responsible for the torture of 15 young boys in 2011.
Bashar al-Assad's reign was defined by the violent suppression of 2011 pro-democracy protests.
Deraa is considered the birthplace of the uprising against Bashar al-Assad's rule.
An arrest warrant was issued against Bashar al-Assad last December on charges of murder and torture.
Bashar al-Assad took power in 2000 following the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad.
The Syrian court stated it would pursue international legal avenues to try to prosecute Bashar al-Assad and Atef Najib.
The date of footage showing men gathering around flames inside the mausoleum of Hafez al-Assad could not be independently verified.