Syrian court sentences ousted leader Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia
A Syrian court sentenced ousted leader Bashar al-Assad to death on Tuesday after a trial in absentia, convicting him of crimes including killings, torture, and arbitrary arrest during the country’s nearly 14-year war. It was the first conviction against Assad, who was ousted in a rebel offensive in December 2024 that ended decades of his family’s iron-fisted rule over Syria and the brutal war…
A Syrian court handed down a death sentence to former leader Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday, convicting him in absentia of crimes committed during the country's 14-year civil war. The trial, which included former government officials, found Assad guilty of "premeditated and intentional murder of more than one person and of children, torture, arbitrary arrest and crimes against humanity."
Assad, who has been in Moscow since fleeing Damascus nearly two years ago, became president in 2000 after his father's death. His rule, marked by conflict stemming from the 2011 Arab Spring protests, saw Syria fracture into a brutal civil war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
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