They were convicted in absentia of crimes against humanity and war crimes during the 14-year civil war in Syria, which claimed the lives of half a million people.
al-Assad and his brother Mahir fled to Russia after rebels entered Damascus in December 2024.
In the same case, al-Assad's cousin, Atif Najib, was also sentenced to death. He stood in a cage, dressed in prison clothes, as the judge read out the verdict. Najib led the Syrian army's response to protests in the southern Syrian city of Daraa in 2011, which led to the uprising against the regime and later the civil war.
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