A Syrian court has sentenced the country’s former president Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes during the 14-year civil war, in which about half a million people died. The court said Bashar al-Assad had been sentenced to death for crimes of “premeditated and intentional murder of more than one person and of children” as well as “torture, arbitrary arrest and crimes against humanity”. The court also sentenced Atef Najib, Assad’s cousin and the former head of political security in Daraa, to death. About 1,500 mostly Alawite civilians were killed in a wave of retaliatory killings in March 2025 after militants loyal to al-Assad attacked security forces. Al-Assad became president in 2000 at the age of 34, inheriting power from his father, Hafez.