- Assad was sentenced to death in absentia on Aug. 11 for crimes including premeditated murder, torture, and crimes against humanity.
- The same sentence was issued in absentia to Maher Assad, who led the Fourth Armoured Division, and to Atef Najib, the only accused tried in person.
- Crowds in Deraa celebrated the ruling, carrying pictures of victims like Hamza al-Khatib, a 13-year-old boy who was tortured and killed.
- This ruling marks the first Syrian conviction against Assad since his ouster, which ended decades of his family's iron-fisted rule and a brutal war that killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians.
- Atef Najib, a cousin of the Assads, was the only accused tried in person and was detained in early 2025.
- Noha al-Masri, a prosecutor present at the sentencing, stated that the ruling was "as big as the sacrifices that Syrians gave for 15 years."
- Some legal experts, including Anwar al-Bunni, described the ruling as performative justice, stating it would diminish any chance of Assad being repatriated.
- Assad already faces an arrest warrant in France over the bombing of a press centre in Homs in 2012.
A Syrian court sentenced Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia on Aug. 11 for crimes including premeditated murder, torture, and arbitrary arrest during the civil war. This marks the first conviction against Assad, who was ousted in December 2024 after decades of rule.1
The court also sentenced Maher al-Assad, his brother and head of the Fourth Armoured Division, and Atef Najib, a security official, to death. Najib was the only one tried in person, having been detained in early 2025.236
In Deraa, where protests began in 2011, crowds celebrated the ruling, carrying pictures of victims like Hamza al-Khatib, a 13-year-old boy tortured and killed by security forces. Noha al-Masri, a prosecutor, expressed that the ruling reflects the sacrifices of Syrians over 15 years.478
However, some experts warn that the death sentences could hinder any chance of repatriating Assad and his co-defendants. Anwar al-Bunni stated, "There is a huge problem, which is that no one will hand over a criminal to a country that issues a death sentence." He criticized the ruling as “performative justice, not transitional justice.” Assad also faces an arrest warrant in France for a bombing in Homs in 2012.910
“The death sentence, issued in absentia, also applies to Assad's brother Maher and Atef Najib, the only accused tried in person. In Deraa, crowds celebrated with photos of victims like 13-year-old Hamza al-Khatib, while legal expert Anwar al-Bunni called it 'performative justice, not transitional justice.'”
