Syria's former president and ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad and Atef Najib, the former head of political security in the southern province of Deraa, have been sentenced to death by a criminal court in Damascus.
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According to the Daily Mail, the court on Tuesday convicted Assad of "war crimes" and "crime against humanity". Najib, who was reportedly tried in person, was convicted of premeditated murder and torture.
Former Syrian leader Assad fled Damascus and flew to Moscow in December 2024 after his government collapsed after strong wave of anti-regime force.
The ruling against Bashar al-Assad, who fled Syria with his family for Moscow as Islamist-led forces closed in on Damascus in December 2024, marks the first such verdict under the country’s transitional authorities.
Assad was convicted of the premeditated murder of multiple people, including children, as well as torture and arbitrary detention. Syrian courts began trying senior figures from his former government this year, with proceedings conducted both in person and in absentia.
Assad, whose brutal rule earned him the nickname “The Butcher”, was toppled in December 2024 by a coalition of rebel groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). Its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is now Syria’s president.
After his ouster, Russian President Vladimir Putin granted Assad and his family asylum and arranged for their evacuation to Moscow.
The former Syrian leader is now believed to be living in a luxury high-rise in the Russian capital, reportedly occupying three apartments in a complex with a shopping mall.
Assad was sentenced to death alongside Atef Najib, the former head of political security in southern Syria’s Deraa province.
