Syria’s former President Bashar al-Assad, who ruled the country under a dictatorship for more than two decades, has been sentenced to death by a criminal court in Damascus after being convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the country’s civil war.
The verdict is the first death sentence handed down against Assad by Syria’s transitional authorities since his government collapsed in December 2024 and a new government took over under the leadership of Ahmed al-Sharaa.
