Bashar Assad, the former Syrian dictator, and two of his close associates were sentenced to death in a Damascus court

Bashar Assad, the former Syrian dictator, and two of his close associates were sentenced to death in a Damascus court

🔸The Criminal Court in Damascus, the Syrian capital, on Tuesday, 20 Mordad, issued a ruling in absentia sentencing the deposed president of this country, Bashar Assad, to death for the crimes of “war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

🔸The court also sentenced the former dictator’s brother, Maher Assad, and their cousin, Aatef Najib, who is described as “one of those directly responsible for suppressing the people,” to death.

🔸In the text of the verdict read in Damascus on Tuesday, 20 Mordad, it states: “The Criminal Court of Bashar Assad, the fugitive defendant, found him guilty of intentional and premeditated killing of more than one person and sentenced him to death.”

🔸The court also issued death sentences for Maher Assad and several other figures from the former Syrian government, and added in its ruling that the crimes of these individuals amounted to “crimes against humanity and war crimes.”

🔸Regarding Aatef Najib, the court announced that he “tortured a number of detainees and was responsible for the deaths of many of them” and, on the charge of intentional killing and torture, sentenced him to death.

🔸The 51-year-long Assad rule, along with his son and successor, Bashar Assad, ended in Azar 1403, following the rapid, multi-day advance of rebel forces led by Ahmad al-Sharaa from the Idlib region toward Damascus.

🔸Since then, Assad and his wife and children have lived in Moscow with the support of the Russian government.

🔸Assad’s regime was the closest regional ally of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the route for its influence into other areas, and Tehran fought for nearly 12 years against its opponents to prevent the fall of this regime; it was present in the crackdown on protests that initially began with street demonstrations, and later, when the Syrian crisis turned into a civil war, it participated in the fighting against Assad’s opponents.

🔸Read the full version of this report on the Radio Farda website.