A Syrian courtroom has sentenced ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad to loss of life in absentia, after convicting him of committing warfare crimes and crimes in opposition to humanity throughout the nation’s civil warfare.
It’s the first conviction in opposition to Assad, who fled from Damascus to Moscow along with his household after his regime was overthrown in December 2024, ending his household’s five-decade grip on energy.
Assad’s cousin and the previous head of political safety in southern Syria’s Deraa province, Atef Najib, was additionally sentenced to loss of life. He had been placed on trial and appeared carrying a striped jail uniform inside a cage within the courtroom because the choose learn out his sentence.
Deraa is broadly seen because the birthplace of the rebellion in opposition to Assad’s rule.
In March 2011, the detention and alleged torture of a bunch of youngsters accused of writing anti-government graffiti sparked protests within the metropolis, which have been met with a violent crackdown by safety forces.
That response helped ignite nationwide demonstrations that escalated into civil warfare during which a whole bunch of 1000’s of individuals have been killed.
Syria’s interim authorities started making an attempt officers related to the Assad regime, which dominated the nation for greater than 50 years, earlier this yr.
Najib is without doubt one of the highest-ranking officers to be placed on trial.
He was convicted of crimes together with homicide, “the intentional killing of kids beneath 15” and “torture resulting in loss of life”.
The courtroom additionally sentenced six former army and safety officers in absentia to loss of life, together with Bashar al-Assad’s youthful brother, Maher. He ran the military’s elite Fourth Division and likewise fled to Moscow when the regime fell.
The others convicted embrace former defence minister Fahd al-Freij.
Nouha al-Masri has spent 15 years ready for this second.
She isn’t just a part of the 5 particular person prosecution crew, she can also be a plaintiff on this case.
Masri misplaced her brother throughout the March 2011 crackdown and bloodbath at Al-Omari Sq. in Deraa.
“The decision displays the magnitude of the sacrifices we made, the sacrifices of the martyrs, the struggling and ache of the victims, the lacking, and the detainees,” she instructed the BBC.
“We have now been ready for 15 years to reclaim even a small a part of our rights, for all those that have spilled our blood, dedicated crimes, violated our rights, killed, and tortured us.”
For Masri, the decision is a brand new chapter.
“Our demand is that this not be the top of the trials… Within the new Syria, there will likely be no impunity from this present day ahead.”
It stays unclear whether or not Syria’s new authorities will be capable to safe Bashar and Maher al-Assad’s extraditions from Moscow.
It’s not the primary transfer in opposition to Assad by Syria’s new management.
An arrest warrant was issued in opposition to him final December on fees of homicide and torture.
He left for Russia as forces beneath Ahmed al-Sharaa – now Syria’s president – swept to energy in a speedy, 11-day marketing campaign that introduced down the Assad dynasty.
Since then, the brand new authorities has detained quite a few former officers and safety personnel, although most senior figures from the previous regime, together with Assad himself, stay out of attain in Russia.
Makes an attempt by Syrian opposition figures to pursue Assad by means of courts in Western international locations throughout the last years of his rule didn’t result in any convictions.
Assad got here to energy in 2000 after the loss of life of his father. The second son of Hafez al-Assad, he was not destined to be Syria’s ruler till his brother, Basil, died in a automotive crash in 1994.
A part of the Alawite minority, he continued to favour their dominance in lots of roles within the army, safety and intelligence companies.
A lot of his rule was outlined by the civil warfare.
Extra reporting by Lana Antaki in Damascus.
(BBC Information)
