A Syrian court has sentenced former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, after convicting him over charges of ‘war crimes’ and ‘crimes against humanity’ during the country’s civil war.

The ruling against Assad, who fled with his family to Moscow as Islamist-led forces closed in on Damascus in December 2024, is the first under the transitional authorities. 

This year it began trying figures from the former government, both in person and in absentia.

al-Assad fled Syria when he was toppled in December 2024 by a collection of rebel forces led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, whose leader Abu Mohammad al-Julani is now the president of the country. 

The deposed ruler is now believed to live in three apartments in a luxury high-rise with a mall downstairs in the Moscow, Russia, after his former ally Vladimir Putin airlifted him and his family out of the country. 

The former dictator was sentenced to death alongside Atef Najib, the former head of political security in southern Syria’s Deraa province, who was reportedly tried in person. 

More to follow.