A Syrian court has sentenced former warlord Waseem Al Assad to death for murder and torture committed during the country's civil war.
Waseem Al Assad, a second cousin of former president Bashar Al Assad, is the fourth member of the family to be sentenced to death since the court in Damascus began issuing verdicts this month in cases related to the 2011-2024 war.
The same court last Tuesday issued death sentences for Bashar Al Assad, his brother Maher, and their first cousin Atif Najib for their role in the crackdown on a public protest movement in Deraa, the cradle of the Syrian revolt, in 2011.
The former president and his brother are in Russia after fleeing Syria when rebels seized power in December 2024.
Also on Tuesday, Lebanon said it would hand over an Assad-era Syrian general wanted on charges of murder and torture to the authorities in Damascus.
Retired Maj Gen Adel Issa, who was arrested in Beirut on August 7, would be the first senior Assad-era official Lebanon has returned to Syria since the country's rulers came to power under rebel commander-turned-president Ahmad Al Shara.
Security forces arrested Waseem Al Assad in June last year, in a breakthrough in the hunt for former regime operatives. Syria's Interior Ministry described him at the time as the leader of the Baath Brigades militia and “one of the top … criminals in the bygone regime”.
Fakhr Al Aryan, head of the Fourth District Criminal Court in Damascus, said forces under Waseem Al Assad's command committed a “massacre” of 75 civilians in Mleiha, part of the Damascus suburbs of Ghouta, in 2013. He also oversaw the execution of three civilians in another part of Eastern Ghouta in 2012, the judge said.
“The court has decided to sentence the defendant, Waseem Al Assad, to death,” Mr Al Aryan said during the session on Tuesday.
The court also ordered the confiscation of his assets. Like many regime commanders in the civil war, Waseem Al Assad is widely believed to have accumulated a personal fortune.
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.
The Damascus court last week also sentenced six other former regime officials to death on charges of murder and torture in connection with the 2011 crackdown in Deraa.
Maj Gen Issa, the former military official arrested in Beirut, will be handed over to Syrian authorities on the Lebanon-Syria border following a decision by Lebanese prosecutor Ahmed Rami Al Hajj.
The extradition decision was based on the Lebanese-Syrian judicial agreement signed in 1951, Lebanon's National News Agency said.
He is wanted by Syrian authorities over charges of murder and crimes against humanity for actions he is alleged to have committed during the 2011-2024 civil war.
Maj Gen Issa once commanded Syria’s 17th Division before being transferred in 2015 to lead ground forces in Deir Ezzor until he retired the following year.
He was detained in Beirut just under two weeks ago after he had entered the Syrian embassy in Lebanon to resolve paperwork issues. When his identity came to light, staff alerted Lebanese officials who detained him.
Mr Al Shara led insurgents in an 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.
