Damascus court sentences Bashar al-Assad to death over orders linked to crimes against Syrians

Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s former president, was sentenced to death after evidence established his direct involvement in issuing orders to field operatives who committed crimes against the Syrian people, the head of Damascus’s Fourth Criminal Court said on Thursday.

Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan made the remarks in a statement to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).

He said the court based its ruling on evidence establishing Assad’s responsibility through the chain of command and orders, as well as documentation of his direct involvement in issuing orders from the top of the hierarchy to those carrying them out on the ground.

Al-Aryan stressed that the sentence was not handed down simply because Assad had served as president.

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On 11 August, the Fourth Criminal Court sentenced Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad and seven other fugitive officials to death in absentia. It also sentenced Atef Najib, the former head of the Political Security branch in Daraa, in person.

The court convicted them of crimes including murder, torture, unlawful deprivation of liberty, crimes against humanity and war crimes in connection with abuses committed during the suppression of protests in Daraa province in 2011.

The August ruling was based on a 396-page judicial decision detailing the violations, evidence and testimonies from victims and witnesses concerning events in Daraa at the start of the Syrian revolution.

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