Syria sentences absent al-Assad to death over killings, torture

On Tuesday, a Syrian court sentenced former President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, convicting him of war crimes including killings, torture, and arbitrary arrests during the country's 14-year conflict. This marked the first conviction against Assad, who was ousted in a rebel offensive in December 2024, ending decades of his family's authoritarian regime.

Assad, who fled Damascus nearly two years ago, is currently in Moscow. The trial also saw Atef Najib, a security official under Assad, sentenced to death. Born in 1965, Assad assumed the presidency in 2000 following his father Hafez's death. His rule was characterized by the country's civil war, which erupted in 2011 following the Arab Spring's democratic uprisings.

Assad maintained control of the Alawite sect, a minority in Syria's predominantly Sunni Muslim population, and kept Syria as an ally of Iran, an adversary of Israel and the United States.