Syrian Court Sentences Bashar Al-Assad, Atef Najib and Former Regime Figures to Death
ARK News.. The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus has sentenced former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Atef Najib, and several other prominent figures of the Assad regime to death after finding them guilty of crimes committed against the Syrian people. The other defendants include Maher Hafez al-Assad, Fahd Jassim al-Freij, Mohammad Ayman Ayoush, Louay Ali al-Ali, Qusai Ibrahim Mahyoub, Wafiq Saleh Nasser, and Talal Fares al-Aysami.
The ruling was issued on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, during the ninth session devoted to delivering the verdict in the case brought against Atef Najib and the other fugitives accused of crimes against the Syrian people. The session was presided over by Judge Fakhruddin al-Aryan, in the presence of Public Prosecutor and Judge Hassan al-Turba, Head of the National Transitional Justice Authority Abdul Basit Abdul Latif and several of its members, as well as representatives of international legal and humanitarian organizations and relatives of the victims.
The judge said investigations and witness testimonies established Atef Najib’s involvement in interrogating a number of detainees following the outbreak of protests in Daraa. He noted that the Political Security Branch in Daraa, which was headed by Najib, stormed the Omari Mosque alongside other security branches. He also said Najib led the security campaign against civilians in Daraa at the beginning of the Syrian uprising, an operation referred to as “the trap” during his interrogation.
The judge stated that the acts attributed to Atef Najib, based on the investigations and witness testimonies, constituted crimes against humanity. He further said that Bashar al-Assad’s contribution to these crimes was as the highest-ranking decision-maker, using state institutions and agencies to carry them out.
The court found Bashar Hafez al-Assad guilty of intentional and premeditated killing of multiple people, including children, as well as torture, arbitrary detention, and crimes against humanity, and sentenced him to death.
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