Jakarta, ThedailyID — A Syrian criminal court sentenced former President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia on Tuesday after convicting him over crimes committed during the country’s 13-year civil war.
The court in Damascus found Assad guilty of premeditated murder and held him responsible for crimes committed during the conflict, which began in 2011. The ruling comes nearly two years after opposition forces removed him from power in December 2024, ending his 24-year rule.
The court also sentenced Atef Najib, the former head of political security in Daraa Province, to death. Judges found him guilty of both premeditated murder and torture.
According to Al Jazeera, the court ruled that crimes committed by Assad’s government in Daraa in 2011 amounted to crimes against humanity.
Daraa, in southern Syria, became the birthplace of the country’s uprising. Demonstrations against Assad’s authoritarian rule erupted there in 2011 during the wider Arab Spring movement that swept across the Middle East and North Africa.
Government forces responded by surrounding the city and cracking down on protesters. The violence pushed some demonstrators to take up arms and eventually escalated into a civil war that lasted 13 years.
Rebel forces led by Ahmed al-Sharaa captured Damascus in December 2024 and toppled Assad’s government after seizing key state institutions.
Following his removal from power, Assad and his family fled to Moscow, Russia, one of his closest international allies.
The ruling marks one of the most significant legal decisions against the former Syrian leader since the collapse of his government. However, Assad remains outside Syria, making the sentence symbolic unless he returns or another country extradites him.
