Syrian Court Sentences Wassim al-Assad to Death, First Assad Relative Tried in Person
Updated
Updated · Al Jazeera English · Aug 18
Syrian Court Sentences Wassim al-Assad to Death, First Assad Relative Tried in Person
3 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · Aug 18
Summary
Damascus’s Fourth Criminal Court sentenced Wassim al-Assad to death on Tuesday after convicting him of premeditated murder, torture, crimes against humanity and war crimes during Syria’s nearly 14-year conflict.
Judges said evidence proved armed groups linked to Bashar al-Assad’s cousin abducted and killed Syrians, including in operations targeting civilian areas such as al-Mleiha in Eastern Ghouta.
The ruling also confiscates his assets and makes Wassim al-Assad the first member of the Assad family sentenced in person; Bashar and Maher al-Assad received death sentences a week earlier in absentia from exile in Russia.
Arrested in June 2025 after returning from Lebanon, Wassim had also faced accusations over Captagon smuggling, but the court cleared him of drug-trafficking charges for lack of direct evidence.
The case is part of Syria’s transitional justice drive after Bashar al-Assad’s December 2024 ouster, aimed at prosecuting abuses committed under the former regime.