{"id":38694,"date":"2026-08-11T14:30:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T09:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=38694"},"modified":"2026-08-11T14:30:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T09:30:32","slug":"ex-syrian-ruler-bashar-al-assad-sentenced-to-death-in-absentia-for-war-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=38694","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad sentenced to death in absentia for war crimes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div xmlns:default=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\">\n<p>A Syrian court sentenced in absentia ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad along with his younger brother to death on Tuesday for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria\u2019s 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead.<\/p>\n<p>Also sentenced to death in the same case was Assad\u2019s maternal cousin Atef Najib for leading the crackdown in the southern province of Daraa that led to the uprising and later the civil war.<\/p>\n<p>Amid tight security, Najib stood inside a cage wearing a prisoner\u2019s uniform as the judge read the sentence.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><button class=\"button button--modal-trigger\" aria-label=\"Open the image in a modal.\" data-modal-image=\"40282359\"><br \/>\n\t<default:svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"icon-plus\" fill=\"#fff\" viewbox=\"0 0 1033 1000\" width=\"1em\" height=\"1em\"><default:path d=\"M380 364V0h273v355h380v290H653v355H380V645H0V355h380v9z\"\/><\/default:svg><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.46077033;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"40282359\" width=\"862\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?w=1024\" alt=\"Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a televised interview.\" class=\"wp-image-40282359\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?resize=300,205 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?resize=768,526 768w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?resize=1024,701 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?resize=600,411 600w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?resize=860,589 860w, 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200w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?resize=231,158 231w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?resize=322,221 322w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?resize=644,441 644w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?resize=88,60 88w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?resize=117,80 117w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?resize=1200,822 1200w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?resize=85,58 85w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?resize=228,156 228w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/image_e05702.png?resize=50,34 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 862px) 100vw, 862px\"\/><figcaption>Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in a televised interview. <span class=\"credit\">AFP\/Getty Images <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Assad and his brother Maher fled to Russia after insurgents marched into Damascus in December 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Najib was later detained and became one of the highest-ranking officials to be put on trial.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Najib is a former Syrian army brigadier general who was head of the Political Security Branch in southern Syria\u2019s Daraa province under Assad in 2011.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><button class=\"button button--modal-trigger\" aria-label=\"Open the image in a modal.\" data-modal-image=\"40282383\"><br \/>\n\t<default:svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"icon-plus\" fill=\"#fff\" viewbox=\"0 0 1033 1000\" width=\"1em\" height=\"1em\"><default:path d=\"M380 364V0h273v355h380v290H653v355H380V645H0V355h380v9z\"\/><\/default:svg><br \/>\n<\/button><br \/>\n<img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.45454545;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"40282383\" width=\"858\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/2013-syria-reached-agreement-united-31695816.jpg?w=1024\" alt=\"Black smoke rising from heavy shelling in the Jobar neighborhood, east of Damascus, Syria.\" class=\"wp-image-40282383\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/2013-syria-reached-agreement-united-31695816.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 4596w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/2013-syria-reached-agreement-united-31695816.jpg?resize=300,206&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/2013-syria-reached-agreement-united-31695816.jpg?resize=768,528&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 768w, 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https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/2013-syria-reached-agreement-united-31695816.jpg?resize=87,60&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 87w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/2013-syria-reached-agreement-united-31695816.jpg?resize=116,80&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 116w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/2013-syria-reached-agreement-united-31695816.jpg?resize=1200,825&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 1200w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/2013-syria-reached-agreement-united-31695816.jpg?resize=84,58&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 84w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/2013-syria-reached-agreement-united-31695816.jpg?resize=227,156&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 227w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/2013-syria-reached-agreement-united-31695816.jpg?resize=50,34&amp;quality=75&amp;strip=all 50w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 858px) 100vw, 858px\"\/><figcaption>Black columns of smoke rise from heavy shelling in the Jobar neighborhood, east of Damascus, Syria on Aug. 25, 2013 <span class=\"credit\">AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Syrian court sentenced in absentia ousted Syrian President Bashar Assad along with his younger brother to death on Tuesday for crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria\u2019s 14-year conflict that left about half a million people dead. Also sentenced to death in the same case was Assad\u2019s maternal cousin Atef Najib for leading&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/newspress-collage-nwqg0jrwy-1786440038236.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1786425656&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38694\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/38695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}