Image: LOUAI BESHARA / AFPDamascus, Syria - A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death after a trial in absentia, convicting him of atrocities committed during the country's nearly 14-year civil war. Ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has been sentenced to death. Torture The court convicted the officials for crimes including murder, incitement to murder, torture leading to death and repeated deprivation of liberty, also considered "crimes against humanity" and "war crimes". The acts attributed to him are "crimes against humanity", the court said as it handed down "the harshest punishment against him, which is the death penalty". Assad took the Syrian presidency in 2000 after the death of his father Hafez.