11 August 2026 14:00 (UTC+04:00)Ulviyya Poladova Read moreA court in Damascus has sentenced nine senior officials from Syria’s former government to death, including former President Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad, and security official Atef Najib, AzerNEWS reports, citing the National News. The Fourth Criminal Court also ordered that Bashar al-Assad and Maher al-Assad be placed on an international wanted list. The court found Bashar al-Assad guilty of the intentional killing of numerous people, including children, as well as torture, unlawful detention, and crimes against humanity. Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher fled to Russia in December 2024. Najib is a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria’s Daraa province under Assad in 2011.