+ ↺ − 16 pxAtef Najib, a former Syrian security official and cousin of ousted President Bashar al-Assad, has been sentenced to death over crimes committed during the brutal crackdown that helped ignite Syria’s uprising in 2011. Najib was in charge of political security in Deraa when anti-government protests erupted in March 2011. Najib had joined the Military Academy in Homs in the early 1980s before rising through Syria’s security apparatus. The court also determined that crimes committed by Assad’s government during the 2011 crackdown in Deraa amounted to crimes against humanity. Syria’s transitional government, led by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, has faced criticism over delays in establishing a comprehensive transitional justice process following Assad’s fall.