Fifteen years after the first anti-regime protests, a court in Damascus has sentenced former president Bashar Al Assad and eight ex-officials to death.
Among those to receive the death penalty is Atef Najib, who previously served as head of the Political Security Branch in Deraa, and Maher Al Assad, the brother of the former president who led army units.
Najib was tried in person, with the others in absentia. They were all convicted of crimes committed during the civil war.
Bashar Al Assad
Al Assad was only 34 when the death of his ailing father – Syria's president of nearly 30 years, Hafez Al Assad – gave him the country's highest job in June 2000.
Giving up his medical career, Al Assad, whose 24-year authoritarian rule was ended by rebels in December 2024, began his training in the military academy and by the time his father died he held the rank of a colonel.
When public protests erupted in 2011, demonstrators called for political freedom and, increasingly, the fall of Al Assad's government. His government responded with a violent crackdown and the uprising transformed into civil war.
Al Assad was accused by human rights groups of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including the use of chemical weapons. The most notorious chemical attack took place in August 2013 in the Ghouta area east of Damascus, when hundreds were killed by the nerve gas, sarin. Al Assad's government denied responsibility for the attack.
He has largely remained out of public view since his overthrow, making one public statement in which he said his departure from the country to Russia was “not planned”.
Maher Al Assad
Two years the former president's junior, Maher Al Assad was described by opponents as the “Butcher of Damascus”. He 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 US later imposed sanctions on him and associates of the division over involvement in illicit activities, including smuggling and facilitating the production and trafficking drugs.
The 4th Division was 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.
Maher Al Assad is also believed to have fled to Russia.
Atif Najib
A cousin of Bashar Al Assad, Najib previously served as head of the Political Security Branch in Deraa, the origin of the uprising that turned into a bloody civil war.
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 captives resulting in death inside detention centres.
Fahd Jassem Al Freij
Al Freij is a Syrian army officer who served as defence minister from 2012 to 2018. He was one of the regime's most senior military figures during the civil war and oversaw forces accused of widespread abuse.
The US imposed sanctions on Al Freij in 2013, accusing him of responsibility for summary executions and indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas.
Mohammad Ayman Ayoush
He was a brigadier general and senior official in Syria's security apparatus under Bashar Al Assad. He is among the least publicly documented of the nine convicted.
He was sentenced over his involvement in the Assad regime's repression of protesters, including killings, torture and arbitrary detention.
Louay Ali Al Ali
Al Ali was a senior military intelligence officer who headed the agency's branch in Deraa during the uprising. He worked alongside Najib and commanders from other intelligence agencies.
Human rights activists documented his role in the repression of protesters, while the European Union later imposed sanctions on him over violence against demonstrators. Al Ali remained a senior security official throughout the Assad era.
Qusay Ibrahim Mihoub
A brigadier general in air force intelligence who was sent to Deraa after the uprising broke out. He was responsible for the agency's forces in the province and was accused by former members of the security services of ordering troops to fire on protesters and use force to suppress demonstrations, for which he was convicted.
The US and EU later imposed sanctions on him over his role in the crackdown, including allegations of torture and the killing of civilians.
Wafiq Saleh Nasser
He was a brigadier general and senior military intelligence officer who served as head of the agency's branch in Sweida during the uprising.
He had previously held positions within the regime's security apparatus and was identified by rights groups as part of the senior intelligence structure involved in suppressing the 2011 protests.
He was later sanctioned by the US over his role in abuse, including arbitrary detention and torture.
Talal Fares Al Aysami
Al Aysami was a senior military and security official under Bashar Al Assad. He was sentenced over his responsibility for killings, torture and other abuse committed during the suppression of the uprising.
