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

Syrian court sentenced former President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia on Tuesday, convicting him of crimes including killings, torture, and arbitrary arrests during Syria's 14-year civil war. This marks the first conviction against Assad, who ruled the country for nearly two decades until his overthrow by rebels in December 2024.

The judge sentenced Assad for the premeditated and intentional murder of more than one person and of children, torture, and crimes against humanity. Atef Najib, a security official under Assad, also received a death sentence. Assad, born in 1965, ascended to the presidency in 2000, following his father Hafez's death. He maintained the rule of his Alawite sect in the Sunni-majority Syria and kept the nation as an ally of Iran, hostile to Israel and the U.S. Assad's rule was marked by civil war, which erupted in 2011 during the Arab Spring, leading to deadly crackdowns on democratic protesters.