A Syrian court on August 11, 2026 sentenced former president Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher al-Assad to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The verdict was handed down after proceedings that ran for several months, DR reports. Neither of the two brothers was present in court. Bashar al-Assad has lived in exile in Russia since the fall of his government in 2024.
Because he remains in Russia, there is no immediate prospect that the death sentence will be carried out, according to DR. Sune Haugbolle, professor of Middle East studies at Roskilde University, told the broadcaster that the ruling still matters. He described it as a final reckoning with the Assad era and as symbolic justice for those who fought for freedom in Syria.
Haifaa Awad, a Danish-Syrian doctor and chair of Mellemfolkeligt Samvirke, worked as a physician in Syria during the civil war. She told DR that the case concerns far more than one man, and that many hopes for Syria’s future are tied to the verdict. She called the outcome a symbolic victory and said many Syrians feel relief at the recognition of what happened.
Cousin sentenced in the courtroom
One of the other convicted men, Atef Najib, is in Syria and was present when the sentence was read. Najib is a cousin of Bashar al-Assad and held the rank of brigadier general. He served as head of the political security service in Daraa, where protests against the government began in March 2011.
Najib was arrested last year, DR reports. As reported by Ritzau, he was convicted of crimes against humanity, including the deliberate killing of children under the age of 15 and torture resulting in death. Haugbolle said the sight of Najib behind bars inside the courtroom carried significant symbolic weight.
Awad recalled a mother whose son was killed in Daraa and who attended the trial against Najib. According to Awad, the woman wept because she had never imagined sitting in the same room as him. The trial marks one of the first cases in which a senior security official from the former government has faced judgment inside Syria.
Awad also described conditions for medical staff during the war. Per her account to DR, hospitals were dug underground and hidden in caves, while doctors, nurses and ambulances were targeted. She cited barrel bombs and chemical attacks among the attacks Syrians were subjected to.
After decades of one-party rule and nearly 14 years of civil war, Syria remains deeply divided, Awad said. She pointed to eroded trust between the country’s many minorities and to the question of transitional justice, where those responsible for the gravest crimes are held to account in a court system the population can trust.
