Ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad sentenced to death in absentia

A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced former ruler Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia, after convicting him over charges of “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” during the country’s civil war. The ruling against Assad, who fled with his family to Moscow as rebels closed in on Damascus in December 2024, is the first under the transitional authorities who this year began trying figures from the former government, both in person and in absentia. A Syrian court also sentenced Assad-era official Atif Najib to death for “crimes against humanity” committed when he was head of political security in Daraa province, the cradle of the country’s 2011 uprising. The court convicted Najib, a cousin…