A court in Syria found former President Bashar al-Assad guilty of crimes against humanity and other crimes and sentenced him to death, the state agency Sana reports.
In addition, the court found Assad's cousin Atef Najib, who headed the political security unit in Daraa province, guilty of premeditated murder and torture and also sentenced to death. Death sentences were also handed down to seven more defendants, “fugitives from justice.”
Najib was sentenced in the courtroom – as the Associated Press writes, he stood behind bars in prison clothes. Assad left Syria in 2024 during the offensive of opposition forces and fled to Russia. Power in the Middle Eastern country was then seized by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, which was recognized as terrorist by a number of states, including the USA and Russia (RTVI described in detail what is known about this group). Ahmed al-Sharaa, previously known as Abu Muhammad al-Julani, became the President of Syria.
The new Syrian authorities have taken a course towards cooperation with the United States. Al-Sharaa has already met twice with the head of the White House, Donald Trump, who even called his counterpart a “strong leader” and a “tough guy.” Washington also removed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham from the list of terrorist organizations, and a number of sanctions were lifted from the Arab republic and its head.
Last week, Reuters reported that Syria has agreed to sharply reduce oil imports from Russia to further lift the latest major sanctions that Washington has still imposed against Damascus. At the same time, in November 2025, al-Sharaa visited Moscow, which was one of Assad’s main allies and where the former Syrian leader is believed to live.
The day before it became known that Moscow and Damascus agreed to change the status of the Russian presence in Syria. As the Sana agency reported, civilian facilities were transferred to the jurisdiction of Damascus, and Russian military bases will be transformed into joint training centers. Russia has not officially commented on this, but in July last year, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Moscow and Damascus agreed to take an inventory of bilateral agreements and contracts.
In April, as RTVI reported, Syria took control of American bases in the country, and US military personnel completely left the territory of the republic.
