A Syrian court has sentenced ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, after convicting him of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the country’s civil war.

It is the first conviction against Assad, who fled from Damascus to Moscow with his family after his regime was overthrown in December 2024, ending his family’s five-decade grip on power.

Assad’s cousin and the former head of political security in southern Syria’s Deraa province, Atef Najib, was also sentenced to death. He had been put on trial and appeared wearing a striped prison uniform inside a cage in the courtroom as the judge read out his sentence.

Deraa is widely seen as the birthplace of the uprising against Assad’s rule.

In March 2011, the detention and alleged torture of a group of teenagers accused of writing anti-government graffiti sparked protests in the city, which were met with a violent crackdown by security forces.

That response helped ignite nationwide demonstrations that escalated into civil war in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed.

Syria’s interim government began trying officials associated with the Assad regime, which ruled the country for more than 50 years, earlier this year.

Najib is one of the highest-ranking officials to be put on trial.

He was convicted of crimes including murder, “the intentional killing of children under 15” and “torture leading to death”.

The court also sentenced six former military and security officials in absentia to death, including Bashar al-Assad’s younger brother, Maher. He ran the army’s elite Fourth Division and also fled to Moscow when the regime fell.

The others convicted include former defence minister Fahd al-Freij.