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A SYRIAN COURT has sentenced former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death after a trial in absentia, convicting him of atrocities committed during the country’s nearly 14-year civil war.

It is the first such ruling under Syria’s transitional leaders who ousted Assad in December 2024, vowing to provide justice and accountability for crimes committed under his rule.

Assad fled to Moscow as Islamist-led forces closed in on Damascus after a lightning offensive.

At a court in Damascus, Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan convicted Assad of crimes including “premeditated murder, the intentional killing of more than one person, the intentional killing of children under 15 years… torture, torture leading to death, and deprivation of liberty on multiple occasions — classified as crimes against humanity and war crimes”.

“He is therefore sentenced to death,” the judge said.

Syria in April began proceedings against Assad and other officials accused in person and in absentia of atrocities during the country’s civil war, which erupted with brutal repression of pro-democracy protesters by the former authorities.

More than half a million people were subsequently killed and millions displaced, while tens of thousands disappeared, many into the country’s prison system.

The court also sentenced six former military and security officials in absentia to death, including Assad’s brother Maher, who ran the army’s elite Fourth Division and also fled the country.

Those convicted included former defence minister Fahd al-Freij and Louay al-Ali, who headed military intelligence in Daraa province in 2011.

The court convicted the officials of crimes including murder, incitement to murder, torture leading to death and repeated deprivation of liberty, also considered “crimes against humanity” and “war crimes”.

Former security official Atif Najib – the only one in the dock – was sentenced to death for “crimes against humanity” committed when he was head of political security in Daraa province, the cradle of Syria’s 2011 uprising.

Najib, a cousin of Assad who was arrested in January last year, was convicted of crimes including murder, “the intentional killing of children under 15″, and “torture leading to death”.

The acts attributed to him are “crimes against humanity”, the court said, as it handed down “the harshest punishment against him, which is the death penalty”.

Aryan said Najib had denied the charges and showed “no remorse”.

An AFP correspondent saw dozens of people gathered at the courthouse for the ruling, many from Daraa province and some holding pictures of loved ones they said had disappeared or were imprisoned under those on trial.

Ramzi Abu Naboud was carrying a picture of his brother Ahmed, who was killed when Assad’s authorities broke up a sit-in at Daraa’s Al-Omari mosque in 2011.

“Thank God and thanks to the judiciary, today we have obtained a judgement that has warmed our hearts,” even if it will not bring back those who were killed, he said.

Lawyer Amer Kazzaz said those convicted had the right to appeal “if there was an error in the application of the law or if the court has committed a gross professional mistake”.

Hiba Zayadin from Human Rights Watch said on X that “today’s scenes reflect 15 years of pain”.

She said the rights watchdog “opposes the death penalty in all cases. It’s cruel and irreversible, especially when a fair trial isn’t guaranteed”.

“Genuine accountability depends on Syria building a justice system that lasts,” she added.

Syria’s national commission for transitional justice called the ruling against Najib “an important milestone in the process of accountability for grave crimes”.

Syria’s uprising against Assad began in Daraa in March 2011, after 15 students were arrested for allegedly writing anti-government slogans on the city’s walls.

Residents said the students were tortured, leading to a protest demanding their release that ended in bloodshed.

Security personnel suppressed peaceful demonstrations with force and fired live ammunition to disperse sit-ins at several locations.

Najib was dismissed after the crackdown, as the protests spread to other provinces.

The Assad family ruled Syria for more than five decades, with Bashar taking the presidency in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez.

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