Syria sentences Assad in absentia; Najib in cage

A Damascus court sentenced former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher, and Atef Najib to death in absentia on charges including murder, torture, crimes against humanity, and the suppression of protests during the 2011 uprising and ensuing war. Najib attended the proceedings, reportedly in a cage, and was described as having led the crackdown in Daraa, the province that sparked the revolt. Assad and Maher are said to have fled to Russia, with the court ordering international pursuit of the defendants. The rulings are presented as part of a first wave of trials by transitional authorities seeking accountability for mass abuses over roughly 14 years of conflict. Coverage emphasizes that Assad and related officials are now targets of international pursuit and subject to legal accountability abroad where permitted. The reports frame this as a landmark step in Syria’s transitional justice process amid ongoing regional and international attention to the war’s legacy.