Syria sentences former president Bashar al-Assad to death over killings, torture

A Syrian court sentenced Bashar al-Assad, the country’s former president, to death on August 11, 2026. The verdict was delivered in absentia after a trial that found him guilty of crimes including murder, torture, and arbitrary arrests during Syria’s 14-year war. This marks the first time Assad has been convicted of such charges.

Assad was forced to leave power in December 2024 when rebel forces took control of Damascus. He is now living in Moscow. During the trial, which also involved other former government officials, a judge accused Assad of committing premeditated murder, torturing prisoners, and violating human rights. Another official, Atef Najib, who served under Assad, was also sentenced to death.

Born in 1965, Assad took over as president after his father, Hafez al-Assad, died in 2000. He continued the family’s long-standing rule, maintaining the Alawite sect’s influence in a country where most people are Sunni Muslim. Assad’s leadership was marked by conflict, including Syria’s involvement in the Iraq war and Lebanon’s crisis. His time in power saw years of civil war, which escalated after the 2011 Arab Spring protests, when Syrians demanded greater democracy but faced harsh repression.