Former Syrian president Bashar Al Assad has been sentenced to death in absentia for mass murder and other crimes connected with the crackdown under his brutal regime in the 2011 revolt against his rule in Deraa.
A court in Damascus on Tuesday sentenced the former president, his brother Maher and security official Atif Najib, along with six other former regime officials, to death on charges of murder and torture.
Najib was tried in person, while the others were tried in absentia. The Fourth Criminal Court also ordered that the Al Assad brothers should be pursued internationally.
The court convicted the former president of premeditated murder of multiple people, including children, as well as torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity.
Fakhr Al Aryan, head of the Fourth District Criminal Court in Damascus, read the sentence against the “fugitive” Bashar Al Assad “in the name of the Arab people in Syria” for crimes that included the “murder of more than one person”, the murder of children under 15 years of age, “murder accompanied by torture” and “incitement for murder”.
Najib was indicted on charges including killing, torture and arbitrary detention, participation in the suppression of peaceful protests using live ammunition, and systematic mass killings and torture of inmates resulting in death inside detention centres.
Syrian Interior Minister Anas Khattab said the verdicts were a "historic step towards achieving justice for the victims and holding those responsible accountable". He said authorities would continue to pursue others involved.
The sentencing was part of the in-person trial of Najib, a cousin of Bashar Al Assad, who served as the head of the Political Security Branch in Deraa, the origin of the uprising that turned into a bloody civil war.
Mr Al Aryan indicated that murders can be described as crimes against humanity and war crimes, although there is no direct reference in Syrian law to these categories. The post-Assad order is keeping most of the past legal code intact until it can be overhauled.
In Deraa, mosque loudspeakers rang with the chant “God is greater” in celebration of the sentencing.
Deraa had long had a reputation as being solidly pro-Assad. However, Najib's imperious two-year reign there was instrumental in turning it against the regime.
Najib was indicted on charges including killing, torture and arbitrary detention, participation in the suppression of peaceful protests using live ammunition, and systematic mass killings and torture of prisoners resulting in death.
Syrian authorities issued an arrest warrant in December for Bashar Al Assad on murder and torture charges, the first legal action against him by the country he ruled for 24 years.
He fled to Russia when Ahmad Al Shara, now Syrian President, led insurgents in a lightning, 11-day offensive that ended five decades of Assad family rule. The government had captured hundreds of former officials and security operatives but not the top echelons of the former regime, most of whom are now in Russia.
Maher Al Assad commanded the 4th Armoured Division, one of the regime's most powerful and loyal military cohorts, and was a prominent Baath party figure. The reputation of the division for brutality made him one of the most feared figures in the government.
The 4th Division was also accused of playing a major role in Syria's Captagon trade, with networks linked to the unit alleged to have produced and trafficked millions of pills. Revenue from the trade is believed to have helped finance the regime and its civil war effort.
In the last decade of the former regime, Syrian dissidents sought legal action against Bashar Al Assad in western countries but failed to achieve results.
His troops, as well as loyalist militias, killed thousands of civilians in the initial crackdown on the revolt in Deraa and the rest of Syria. By the end of 2011, Syria was embroiled in civil war.
However, revenge killings have been carried out almost daily in Syria of those seen as Assad regime collaborators. Mass killings have also taken place against Alawites, the minority to which Bashar Al Assad belongs that underpinned the former dictatorship.
Khaled Yacoub Oweis contributed from Amman, Jordan
