Syrian court sentences detained Assad cousin to death for crimes against humanity

On Tuesday, a Syrian court sentenced Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of former President Bashar al-Assad, to death for crimes against humanity. The 46-year-old appeared in court and was convicted of multiple murders, torture, brutality, and other atrocities committed during the civil war. Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan found Wassim al-Assad guilty of forming armed groups that carried out deadly attacks near the capital, Damascus, and inciting civil war and sectarian fighting.

He was acquitted of drug smuggling and trafficking due to insufficient evidence. Syria has begun trials against Bashar al-Assad and other officials accused of atrocities, with over half a million people killed and millions displaced. The court reserved the right to reopen the case if new evidence emerges. The ruling can be appealed to Syria's highest judicial body, the court of cassation.

Wassim al-Assad's first trial session took place in late June, after his arrest near the Lebanese-Syrian border last year. The US Treasury sanctioned him in 2023 for leading a paramilitary unit and being a key figure in a regional drug trafficking network. During the civil war, he posted images of himself on social media with luxury cars, military garb, and armed men urging them to fight for the now-deposed leader.

Last Tuesday, Bashar al-Assad was also sentenced to death in absentia for his role in the civil war's atrocities, marking the first such ruling under the new authorities. Six other military and security officials were also sentenced in absentia to death, including Assad's brother Maher, who ran the army's elite Fourth Division.