A Syrian court has sentenced ousted President Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother, Maher, to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during Syria’s 14-year conflict.

The ruling, delivered on Tuesday by the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus, marks the first death sentences against Assad or members of his inner circle since the Assad family’s five-decade rule ended in December 2024.

Judge Fakhareddine al-Aryan said Bashar Assad had used state institutions to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. The conflict is estimated to have killed about 500,000 people.

Assad’s maternal cousin, Atef Najib, was also sentenced to death in the same case. Najib was convicted over his role in the crackdown in Daraa in 2011 that helped trigger the uprising against Assad’s government.

Najib, a former Syrian army brigadier general who headed the Political Security Branch in Daraa, was detained after Assad’s government fell. He was among the highest-ranking officials to face trial under Syria’s new authorities.

His tenure in Daraa became a focal point of the uprising after security forces arrested and tortured teenagers accused of writing anti-government graffiti on a school wall. The incident helped fuel mass protests that were met with a violent government crackdown.

The unrest eventually developed into a prolonged civil war, with widespread allegations of killings, torture and other abuses by government forces and armed groups.

Bashar and Maher Assad fled to Russia following the collapse of their government and were granted political asylum. Syria’s new authorities have since called on Moscow to hand the brothers over to face justice.

Maher Assad previously commanded the Syrian military’s 4th Armored Division, which opposition activists have accused of involvement in killings, torture, extortion and drug trafficking, as well as operating detention facilities.