Syrian justice sentenced Wassim al-Assad, a detained cousin of former President Bashar al-Assad, to death on Tuesday August 18 for “war crimes and crimes against humanity”, himself sentenced to death in absentia a week ago.
Also readSyria: Bashar al-Assad sentenced to death in absentia
Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan said Wassim al-Assad had been found guilty of murder, “deliberate homicide of several people, accompanied by acts of torture and brutality (…) qualified as crimes against humanity and war crimes”, adding that “he was therefore sentenced to death”.
In April, Syria began trials of Bashar al-Assad, who fled to Russia, and others responsible for atrocities committed during the civil war sparked by the brutal repression of pro-democracy protests.
The first Assad tried in person
Wassim al-Assad is the first member of the Assad family to face trial in person, having been arrested in June near the Syrian-Lebanese border.
The war devastated the country from 2011 to 2024, leaving more than half a million dead, millions displaced and tens of thousands missing.
The court ruled that Wassim al-Assad had formed two armed groups loyal to the former power, perpetrators of deadly attacks near Damascus.
He also notably found him guilty of inciting civil war. Other charges, for drug trafficking, were dropped for lack of sufficient evidence.
Although he did not hold high office, the US Treasury sanctioned Wassim al-Assad in 2023, saying he led a paramilitary unit and was “a key figure in the regional drug trafficking network”.
His conviction can be appealed to the Court of Cassation, Syria’s highest judicial body.
The new Syrian authorities, who ousted the previous power in December 2024, have pledged to hold those responsible for crimes committed under President Assad accountable.
During the civil war, Wassim al-Assad appeared on the networks alongside luxury cars, sometimes appearing in military uniform and armed.
Six former officials received the same sentence
On August 11, the courts sentenced Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia for “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity”.
Six former military and security force officials received the same sentence in absentia, including Assad’s brother Maher, who led the 4th Division, an elite army unit.
The only one to appear, the former security chief of Deraa province, cradle of the 2011 uprising, Atif Najib, was also sentenced to death for crimes against humanity.
Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia in December 2024, accompanied only by a handful of relatives, abandoning many officials, some of whom are believed to have fled to neighboring countries or found refuge in the coastal Syrian stronghold of the Alawite minority from which the Assad clan comes.
With AFP
