A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced ousted President Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother, Maher, to death in absentia over crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the country’s prolonged conflict. “Bashar Assad used state agencies to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity,” Judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan said during proceedings broadcast live on Syrian state television. Assad’s maternal cousin, Atef Najib, was also sentenced to death in the same case. The Daraa uprising began after several teenagers were arrested over anti-government graffiti written on a school wall. The death sentences were delivered in the absence of both brothers, who remain outside Syria.