The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, issued death sentences against Bashar al-Assad and a number of senior military and security leaders of the ousted Syrian regime, after convicting them of charges including premeditated murder, torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity, according to Syria’s official news agency SANA.
Rulings in absentia and a ruling in person
The court convicted Bashar al-Assad in absentia of the felony of the intentional and premeditated murder of multiple people and children, in addition to torture, arbitrary detention and crimes against humanity. It also sentenced Maher Hafez al-Assad, Fahd Jassem al-Freij, Mohammed Ayman Ayoush, Louay Ali al-Ali, Qusay Ibrahim Mahboub, Wafiq Saleh Nasser and Talal Faris al-Aisami to death in absentia, after convicting them of the felony of intentional and premeditated murder and torture resulting in death.
By contrast, a ruling was issued against Atef Najib in his presence, after the court deemed that the acts attributed to him, based on investigations and witness statements, constituted crimes against humanity.
Bashar and Maher al-Assad and al-Freij
Bashar al-Assad assumed the presidency and supreme command of the armed forces in 2000, succeeding his father, Hafez al-Assad, after a constitutional amendment that took a quarter of an hour. During his years in power, he relied on the security and military services and used state institutions to confront the Syrian revolution and suppress popular protests.
Shortly before the “Military Operations Administration” entered Damascus in December 2024, al-Assad fled with his family and close associates to Moscow. The Russian authorities granted them humanitarian asylum, while imposing strict restrictions on al-Assad’s movements and media appearances, according to the source material.
Maher al-Assad, Bashar al-Assad’s brother, was commander of the Fourth Division, which played a pivotal role in the regime army’s field operations during the years of the revolution. He was associated with directing military operations and imposing sieges in several Syrian areas, in addition to a network of influence that provided the regime with financial and logistical resources. He was also linked to the captagon trade, which constituted a major source of funding for the ousted regime and its military operations, while the Fourth Division was accused of imposing extortion payments on Syrians in various provinces.
General Fahd Jassem al-Freij served as defense minister and chief of staff of the ousted regime’s army between 2012 and 2018, overseeing the planning and execution of major military campaigns in the Syrian provinces.
Atef Najib and southern region officers
Atef Najib, Bashar al-Assad’s maternal cousin, headed the Political Security branch in Daraa in 2011. He became associated with the harsh treatment of children who were detained in the city, an incident that helped ignite the protests and mark the beginning of the Syrian revolution. The court convicted him of storming the Omari Mosque in Daraa, leading security operations against civilians, and executing and torturing detainees.
After the regime’s collapse, Najib attempted to hide and move between coastal areas in preparation for leaving the country through smuggling routes, before Syrian internal security forces arrested him in the Latakia countryside in January 2025.
Louay al-Ali, a brigadier general and senior officer in Syrian military intelligence, rose through the ranks of the Military Intelligence Directorate until he headed the Military Security Department in Daraa, Branch 245, when the revolution began in 2011. He was then promoted to head the Military Intelligence branch in Suwayda, Branch 217, and the southern region until the regime fell.
Al-Ali faces accusations of participating in the storming of the Omari Mosque and the assault on Daraa in 2011. His name also appeared in international human rights reports accusing him of overseeing systematic killing and torture, besieging and shelling towns in the south, as well as running drug-trafficking networks and kidnapping gangs.
Qusay Mahboub, a brigadier general and officer in the Air Intelligence Directorate, rose through the directorate’s ranks until he became deputy head of the Air Intelligence branch in the southern region, before taking command of the Special Missions branch. When the revolution erupted in 2011, he was sent at the head of a security force to Daraa, where he issued direct orders to use live ammunition against protesters and storm sit-ins, according to testimonies documented by human rights organizations.
Mahboub later commanded security sectors around Damascus and in the Badia between 2015 and 2018. He was associated with raids, forced arrests and field executions, leading to his inclusion on Western and international sanctions lists.
Wafiq Nasser and Talal al-Aisami
Wafiq Nasser, a brigadier general and senior intelligence officer, headed the Military Intelligence branch in Suwayda and the southern region between 2011 and 2018. He also chaired the security committee there before moving to head the Military Intelligence branch in Hama and then Aleppo.
Testimonies and international reports attribute to Nasser the management of security files through assassinations, the formation of armed militias, kidnapping networks and drug trafficking. He was also held directly responsible for the assassination of Sheikh Wahid al-Balous, leader of the Men of Dignity Movement, in 2015, and for the execution of dozens of detainees under torture. His name was included on US and European sanctions lists.
Talal al-Aisami, an officer in the Syrian regime’s security services, has been associated with managing and directing field operations and raids, as well as coordinating security work between branches at several locations during the years of the Syrian revolution.
