Syria Sentences Assad to Death
Syrians celebrate outside the Palace of Justice following an execution sentence handed down to Bashar al-Assad in a trial held in absentia, convicting him of atrocities committed during the civil war. “AFP” Damascus – Agencies: The Syrian judiciary issued death sentences yesterday against ousted President Bashar al-Assad and several key figures from his regime, including former security official Atif Najib, in decisions marking the first of their kind since the overthrow of the former regime in late 2024. Since April, transitional authorities have initiated public, in-person, and in-absentia trials against former political and security officials on charges amounting to “war crimes” committed following the popular protests that erupted in 2011 and were crushed by force by the former regime before escalating into a bloody conflict that claimed more than half a million lives.
Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan, president of the Fourth Assize Court in Damascus, stated that the fugitive defendant Bashar al-Assad was convicted of multiple crimes, including “intentional homicide, aggravated intentional homicide of multiple persons, intentional killing of children under the age of 15, and the crime of torture, torture leading to death, and the crime of deprivation of liberty on multiple occasions, classified as crimes against humanity and war crimes.” He announced, “He was sentenced to death for these acts.” Bashar al-Assad fled to Moscow with his family and several close associates following the overthrow of his regime in December 2024.
During yesterday’s session, the court also sentenced six former military and security officials to death in absentia, including former Defense Minister Fahd Jasim al-Farraj, Maher al-Assad, brother of the ousted president and former commander of the Fourth Division, and Lu’ay al-Ali, who headed the military intelligence branch in Daraa in 2011, along with three other figures from the former regime. They were convicted of crimes including intentional homicide, incitement to murder, and torture leading to death, which the court classified as “crimes against humanity” and “war crimes.”
The court also ordered the execution of Atif Najib, a former brigadier general and cousin of the ousted president, who was the only detainee among those sentenced yesterday. The court convicted Najib, who headed the Political Security branch in Daraa governorate—the epicenter of the popular protests against Assad—of “intentional homicide” and “intentional killing of children under 15,” as well as “torture leading to death.” It ruled that the acts attributed to him constituted “crimes against humanity” and sentenced him to “the most severe penalty, which is execution.”
Najib’s name became associated with the arrest of children and the mistreatment of local dignitaries who visited the Political Security branch to demand their release, actions that exacerbated public anger and contributed to the outbreak of demonstrations. As protests spread to several other governorates, the Assad regime dismissed Atif Najib from his post, holding him responsible for the crackdown in Daraa. Al-Aryan stated that Najib, who appeared behind bars during the trial, “denied” the charges against him and “showed not a shred of remorse or apology,” prompting the court to impose “the harshest penalty” on him.
During the trial session, dozens of people, mostly residents of Daraa governorate, gathered around the Palace of Justice amid a heavy security presence and roadblocks leading to the area. Some held up photos of relatives who were killed or disappeared during the years of conflict, including Ramzi Abu Naboud, whose brother Ahmad was killed during the dispersal of a sit-in at the Omari Mosque in 2011. Abu Naboud said, “Praise be to God and thanks to the judiciary. Today, we have received a verdict that has brought us comfort. The martyrs will not return, but the verdict has brought us comfort.”
According to Syrian lawyer Amer Qazzaz, the convicted individuals have the right to appeal the verdict before the Court of Cassation. In a post on X, Hiba Zeidan, a Syrian researcher at Human Rights Watch, stated that “today’s scenes reflect 15 years of pain.” She affirmed that the organization “opposes the death penalty in all cases. It is cruel and irreversible, especially when there are no guarantees of a fair trial,” and emphasized that “appeal procedures must also meet fair trial standards,” stressing that “genuine accountability depends on building a sustainable justice system in Syria.”
The National Authority for Transitional Justice, established by the authorities last year, stated that the verdict against Najib represents “a significant milestone in the path of accountability for serious crimes, reinforcing the principle of the rule of law and the end of impunity, and providing justice for victims within an institutional judicial process.”
