Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Brother Maher Sentenced to Death by Syrian Court

Dil Bar Irshad | August 11, 2026 | 04:23 PM IST | Breaking News, Politics, World | Follow on Google News

Former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Brother Maher Sentenced to Death by Syrian Court

Damascus, Aug. 11 [VoM News]: In absentia, Bashar al-Assad, the former president of Syria, has been sentenced to death by a Syrian court. He was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity that have arisen from Syria’s civil conflict. His brother Maher al-Assad, who once held command as a high-ranking military official, also received the same sentence.

In addition to these two figures, Atef Najib-Assad’s maternal cousin and former leader of the Political Security Branch of Daraa-was also sentenced to death by a court. He was convicted for his involvement in the crushing of protests leading up to Syria’s 2011 civil war. Najib is being held responsible for the murder of children, some under the age of 15, as well as torture which ended with fatalities, citing them as crimes against humanity.

This judgment is the first of its kind against senior figures in the former Syrian government, issued by the country’s transitional authorities-who started prosecuting former officials this year including the absent legal proceedings.

As opposition factions neared Damascus in December of 2024, Bashar al-Assad and members of his family evacuated the country for Moscow. Assad’s 50-plus year regime came to a close, with a transitional government appointed, headed by Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Syria’s war, which started in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring revolts, led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrians as millions of others sought refuge in other nations, many in neighboring nations, though several fled as far as Europe. This ruling is seen as an enormous leap forward towards accountability of former members of the former Syrian regime for the acts they’ve allegedly committed during the course of the conflict.

Dil Bar Irshad

Dil Bar Irshad is a seasoned journalist, hails from Jammu Kashmir's Doda, covers political, social, business stories, index stories.