Syria sentences 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. Judges convicted him of killings, torture and arbitrary arrest committed during Syria's nearly 14-year war.

The ruling marks Assad's first conviction since he was ousted in December 2024.

Why was Bashar al-Assad sentenced to death?

A judge convicted Assad of premeditated and intentional murder of more than one person, including children, along with torture, arbitrary arrest and crimes against humanity.

The verdict came during a trial of former government officials held on Tuesday. Atef Najib, a security official under Assad, also received a death sentence.

When was Bashar al-Assad ousted from power?

Assad fled Damascus in December 2024 as rebel fighters advanced on the capital, ending decades of his family's rule over Syria. The offensive also ended a war that killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians. He has been in Moscow since then.

Tuesday's sentencing is the first conviction handed down against him since his removal. It closes out nearly two years in which Assad has faced no legal proceedings on Syrian soil.

How long did Bashar al-Assad rule Syria?

Assad, born in 1965, became president in 2000 after his father Hafez died in office. He preserved his family's grip on power and the dominance of their Alawite sect in the Sunni Muslim-majority country. Syria also remained a close ally of Iran and an adversary of Israel and the United States under his rule.

His early years in office were shaped by the Iraq war and the crisis in Lebanon. Assad's rule later became defined by civil war after the 2011 Arab Spring, when Syrians demanding democratic reform took to the streets and were met with deadly force.