Syrian President Bashar Assad, attends the closing session of the Arab Summit in Doha, Qatar, March 30, 2009. in Doha, Qatar. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, file)

2026-08-11T08:43:39Z

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A Syrian court sentenced in absentia ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad along with his younger brother to death on Tuesday for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria’s 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead.

Also sentenced to death in the same case was Assad’s maternal cousin Atef Najib for leading the crackdown in the southern province of Daraa that led to the uprising and later the civil war.

Amid tight security, Najib stood inside a cage wearing a prisoner’s uniform as the judge read the sentence.

Assad and his brother Maher fled to Russia after insurgents marched into Damascus in December 2014.

Najib was later detained and became one of the highest-ranking officials to be put on trial.

Najib is a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria’s Daraa province under Assad in 2011.