### [2026-08-11](/feed/2026/08/11/index.md)

##### Presidency of Ahmed al-Sharaa
# The Criminal Court in Damascus, Syria, sentences deposed president Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia, and former Daraa political security director Atef Najib in person, and issue international arrest warrants for all for premeditated murder and crimes against humanity. 




### Sources:

1. [AFP via ''The Standard](https://www.thestandard.com.hk/world/article/339643/Syria-sentences-Bashar-al-Assad-to-death-in-absentia-over-atrocities)
2. [The National](https://www.thenationalnews.com/news/2026/08/11/damascus-court-sentences-bashar-al-assad-and-others-to-death/)

### Changes:

1. The Criminal Court in Damascus sentenced deposed President Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia, and Atef Najib—former Political Security director in Daraa—in person. The rulings cite premeditated murder and crimes against humanity. Arrest warrants were simultaneously issued for all fugitives.  _2026-08-11 13:59:19 (First version)_
2. The Criminal Court in Damascus, Syria, sentence deposed president Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia, and former Daraa political security director Atef Najib in person, and issue international arrest warrants for all for premeditated murder and crimes against humanity.  _2026-08-12 05:58:27 (Update)_
2. The Criminal Court in Damascus, Syria, sentences deposed president Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia, and former Daraa political security director Atef Najib in person, and issue international arrest warrants for all for premeditated murder and crimes against humanity.  _(Current version)_

### Related:

1. [The first public trial of officials linked to former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad opens in Damascus with Atef Najib, former head of security in Daraa Governorate, the only one present to stand trial. Bashar and his brother Maher are to be tried in absentia. ](/feed/2026/04/26/the-first-public-trial-of-officials-linked-to-former-syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-opens-in-damascus-with-atef-najib.md) _Context: Atef Najib, Bashar al-Assad, Damascus, Daraa, Maher, Syria, in absentia, president_
2. [The Crown Prosecution Service charges a former Syrian soldier from the Air Force Intelligence Directorate with three counts of murder and three counts of torture as crimes against humanity under the International Criminal Court Act for his attacks on civilians in Damascus in 2011. ](/feed/2026/03/9/the-crown-prosecution-service-charges-a-former-syrian-soldier-from-the-air-force-intelligence-directorate-with-three-cou.md) _Context: Damascus, Syria, crimes against humanity_
3. [A domestic tribunal in Bangladesh sentences former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan to death in absentia over crimes against humanity committed during the quota reform protests in 2024. ](/feed/2025/11/17/a-domestic-tribunal-in-bangladesh-sentences-former-prime-minister-sheikh-hasina-and-former-home-minister-asaduzzaman-kha.md) _Context: crimes against humanity, in absentia_
4. [Two workers are killed, several are injured and others are reported missing when the ceiling of an under-renovation serail in Damascus, Syria, collapses. ](/feed/2025/10/1/two-workers-are-killed-several-are-injured-and-others-are-reported-missing-when-the-ceiling-of-an-under-renovation-sera.md) _Context: Damascus, Syria_
5. [Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa becomes the first Syrian leader to address the United Nations General Assembly since Nureddin al-Atassi in 1967. ](/feed/2025/09/24/syrian-president-ahmed-al-sharaa-becomes-the-first-syrian-leader-to-address-the-united-nations-general-assembly-since-nu.md) _Context: Syria, president_
6. [French judges issue arrest warrants for seven former senior Ba'athist Syrian officials, including former president Bashar al-Assad, on charges of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity for a 2012 rocket attack on a media center in Homs that killed journalists Marie Colvin and Rémi Ochlik and injured others. ](/feed/2025/09/2/french-judges-issue-arrest-warrants-for-seven-former-senior-ba-athist-syrian-officials-including-former-president-basha.md) _Context: Bashar al-Assad, arrest warrant, crimes against humanity, president_
7. [Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa announces the creation of a new transitional government, following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime. ](/feed/2025/03/29/syrian-president-ahmed-al-sharaa-announces-the-creation-of-a-new-transitional-government-following-the-fall-of-the-bash.md) _Context: Bashar al-Assad, deposed, president_
8. [Ahmed al-Sharaa is declared the president of Syria during the transition period, a month after Bashar al-Assad was ousted by rebel forces. ](/feed/2025/01/29/ahmed-al-sharaa-is-declared-the-president-of-syria-during-the-transition-period-a-month-after-bashar-al-assad-was-ouste.md) _Context: Bashar al-Assad, deposed, president_
9. [Six people are killed in Homs Governorate, Syria, as security forces conduct an operation against militias supporting ousted president Bashar al-Assad. ](/feed/2025/01/21/six-people-are-killed-in-homs-governorate-syria-as-security-forces-conduct-an-operation-against-militias-supporting-ou.md) _Context: Bashar al-Assad, Syria, president_
10. [German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot become the first European Union foreign ministers to travel to Damascus, Syria, after the fall of the Assad regime to discuss new diplomatic relations with the Syrian Transitional Government and Syrian civil society. ](/feed/2025/01/3/german-foreign-minister-annalena-baerbock-and-french-foreign-minister-jean-noel-barrot-become-the-first-european-union-f.md) _Context: Damascus, Syria, deposed_