Former Syrian president Bashar al Assad has been sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes, following a ruling by a court in the country.
Assad fled the capital Damascus, and flew to Moscow in December 2024 after his government fell following a lightning offensive by anti-regime forces.
On Tuesday, a Syrian court sentenced the former president and his brother Maher Assad in absentia for the crimes carried out over the Assad regime's 14-year rule.
Assad's maternal cousin Atef Najib - detained in Syria - was also sentenced to death for leading the 2011 crackdown in the southern province of Daraa, where teenagers were detained and tortured for anti-regime graffiti.
The incident in Daraa sparked a mass uprising against the Assad regime, and later the civil war, which lasted until the fall of the government.
