A Syrian court has sentenced former president Bashar Al Assad's cousin Waseem Al Assad to death, after being convicted of crimes during the country’s nearly 14-year war, state media reported.
The ruling was issued on Tuesday by the Fourth District Criminal Court in Damascus, which found him guilty of crimes including premeditated murder and torture.
“The court has decided to sentence the defendant, Wasim al-Assad, to death," Judge Fakhr Al Aryan said during the hearing session.
The court also ordered the confiscation of the convicted defendant’s movable and immovable assets for the benefit of the state treasury.
Security forces captured Waseem Al Assad in a major breakthrough in June. The Interior Ministry described him at the time as leader of the Baath Brigades militia and “one of the top narcotics dealers and criminals in the bygone regime”.
Last week, Bashar Al Assad was 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 had also sentenced the toppled president's brother Maher and security official Atif Najib, along with six other former regime officials, to death on charges of murder and torture.
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.
