A Syrian court has sentenced former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, in what is being described as the first judicial verdict against the country’s former leader. The judges said Assad was responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed after the Syrian civil war erupted in 2011. He was overthrown in December 2024 by Islamist fighters after more than a decade of ruling Syria through years of war and political repression. The death sentence marks a dramatic new chapter in Syria’s long and painful history. For many victims of the war, the ruling represents a moment of recognition after years in which their suffering often seemed to have no legal answer.