A Syrian court sentenced ousted leader ⁠ Bashar al-Assad ⁠to death on Tuesday ⁠after a trial in absentia, convicting him of crimes including killings, torture, and arbitrary arrest during the country’s nearly 14-year war. It was the first conviction against ‌Assad, who was ousted in a rebel offensive in December 2024 that ended decades of his family’s iron-fisted rule over Syria and the brutal war that killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians. Assad fled the capital Damascus as rebel fighters ⁠approached nearly two years ago, and is currently in Moscow. Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan sentences former Syrian president Assad in absentia to death on Tuesday, accusing him of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” after the outbreak of the country’s civil war in 2011. Photo: AFPAtef Najib, a security ‌official under Assad, was also sentenced to death.