A court in Syria sentenced the overthrown tyrant Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the nation’s 14-year conflict, which resulted in millions of people being displaced or fleeing to other countries and around half a million deaths.
Al-Assad was found guilty on Tuesday by the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus of directing the torture and unlawful detention of people, including children. The judge stated that witnesses had attested to the fact that al-Assad was the ultimate authority behind the crimes and that he had carried them out using Syrian official tools. In the same case, al-Assad’s maternal cousin Atef Najib, who was present at the trial, and his younger brother Maher, who was also sentenced to death in absentia.
Najib was convicted of spearheading the crackdown in the southern province of Daraa, which sparked the rebellion and ultimately the civil war. The judge read the punishment while Najib, dressed in a prisoner’s garb, stood in a cage under strict security. He was found guilty of murder, “the intentional killing of children under 15,” and torture that resulted in death.
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