A Syrian court has sentenced ousted President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia after convicting him of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country’s civil war....A Syrian court has sentenced ousted President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia after convicting him of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country’s civil war. Assad’s cousin and former head of political security in southern Syria’s Deraa province, Atef Najib, was also sentenced to death. A violent crackdown on protests in March 2011 helped trigger nationwide demonstrations that eventually developed into a civil war in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Assad came to power in 2000 following the death of his father, Hafez al-Assad, who had ruled Syria for nearly three decades. ADVERTISEMENTHis presidency was dominated by the civil war that erupted in 2011 and the subsequent conflict between government forces, opposition groups and militant organisations.