Damascus court sentences Bashar al-Assad to death

A Damascus criminal court sentenced former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia on 11 August 2026. The court convicted him of premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention, and crimes against humanity linked to the early stages of the civil war, particularly the crackdown in Daraa province in 2011.

Assad’s brother Maher al-Assad received the same sentence in absentia. Former security official Atef Najib, tried in person, was also sentenced to death after conviction for premeditated murder and torture. The court ordered international pursuit of Bashar and Maher al-Assad. Najib, once head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa, stood in a cage in a prisoner’s uniform as the sentence was read.

Assad fled to Russia in December 2024 when opposition forces entered Damascus. The ruling is the first major judgment under the transitional authorities against senior figures of the former government. Investigations and witness testimony formed the basis of the convictions. The civil war left roughly half a million people dead.