This is the first conviction since Syria’s transition government came into power after the fall of Assad’s regime in December 2024. Also sentenced to death was the former political security chief of Deraa, Atef Najib, for systematically torturing and murdering during initial anti-government crackdowns. In a criminal court sitting in Damascus, Syria’s former president, Bashar Al-Assad, was sentenced to death in absentia on Tuesday for premeditated murder, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Post-Assad transition led by Ahmed al-Sharaa
Even though the fugitive former president is still in exile in Russia, the transitional government assured that there will be international arrest warrants to help enforce the court’s mandate. Al-Sharaa made his mark in history by being the first Syrian leader in sixty years to speak at the UN General Assembly, asking for an end to global sanctions. The U.S. government withdrew the foreign terrorist designation from HTS in diplomatic reconfiguration amid the new government in Damascus.
