Bashar sentenced to death in absentia

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DAMASCUS:

A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, after convicting him over charges of "war crimes" and "crimes against humanity" during the country's civil war.

The ruling against Assad, who fled with his family to Moscow as rebels closed in on Damascus in December 2024, is the first under the transitional authorities who this year began trying figures from the former government, both in person and in absentia. Assad, who was born in 1965, became president in 2000 after his father Hafez died.

The court convicted Najib, a cousin of Bashar and arrested in January last year, of crimes including murder, "the intentional killing of children under 15", and "torture leading to death".