A Syrian court sentenced ousted leader Bashar al-Assad to death on Tuesday (August 11, 2026) after a trial in absentia, convicting him of crimes including killings, torture, and arbitrary arrest during the country’s nearly 14-year war.
What Happened
It was the first conviction against Assad, who was ousted in a rebel offensive in December 2024 that ended decades of his family’s iron-fisted rule over Syria, and the brutal war that killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians.
In a trial of former government officials on Tuesday, a judge handed down a death sentence to Assad over the crimes of “premeditated and intentional murder of more than one person and of children, torture, arbitrary arrest and crimes against humanity”.
People Involved
Assad, who was born in 1965, became president in 2000 after his father Hafez died. He maintained the family’s rule and the dominance of their Alawite sect in the Sunni Muslim-majority country and Syria’s status as an Iranian ally hostile to Israel and the U.S.
