Yesterday, Syria’s Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus handed down landmark death sentences against ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad and their cousin Atef Najib, together with six other former officials of their regime. The case was presided over by Judge Fakhr al-Din Mustafa al-Aryan, with associate judges Abdul Hamid Muhammad al-Hamoud and Hussam Hussein Abdul Rahman.
Bashar, Maher and the six other former officials were tried and sentenced in absentia, while Najib—who has been in Syrian custody since early 2025—was present in court when his sentence was read. The verdicts were the first convictions against Assad or members of his inner circle by a Syrian court since his regime collapsed in December 2024.
Bashar al-Assad was convicted of crimes including the premeditated and intentional murder of multiple people, including children, torture, arbitrary arrest and crimes against humanity. Maher al-Assad, the former commander of Syria’s notorious Fourth Armoured Division, was also sentenced to death for murder, torture and crimes against humanity. The prosecution’s case concerned abuses committed in the period surrounding the beginning of the 2011 Revolution and the war that followed.
Atef Najib, Bashar al-Assad’s maternal cousin and the former head of the Political Security Branch in Daraa, was convicted over his role in the violent repression that helped ignite the Syrian uprising. The case against him included the arrest and torture of children and students for anti-government graffiti, the use of live ammunition against peaceful demonstrators, killings and arbitrary detention, torture that resulted in deaths, and involvement in the crackdown around Daraa’s Al-Omari Mosque. Prosecutors also accused forces under Najib’s authority of preventing ambulances from reaching wounded protesters and firing on injured people.
Najib is the only one of the nine condemned defendants currently in Syrian custody and has the right to appeal.
However, extradition of Bashar al-Assad from Moscow, where he is living with his family, seems unlikely as the previous Syrian dictator enjoys the protection of the Kremlin. Syria has a pending arrest warrant against Bashar but Moscow has refused to extradite him.
Syria is in the process of rebuilding diplomatic ties with the West as it moves away from its longstanding dependencies on and links to Russia. It is also expected to significantly reduce its reliance on Russian oil imports by securing alternative sources of supply.
As Syria takes an increasingly pro-Western direction, it appears highly unlikely that Russia will hand Bashar al-Assad over to the Syrian authorities. A death sentence against him may, in fact, increase his value to Moscow as a political asset, giving Russia additional leverage in its dealings with the new Syrian government.
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