A Syrian court has sentenced Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of ousted president Bashar al-Assad, to death after convicting him of multiple murders, torture and crimes against humanity committed during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war, making him the fourth member of the Assad family to receive a death sentence this month.
The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus delivered the verdict on Tuesday. Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan said Wassim al-Assad, 46, was convicted of “murder accompanied by torture and brutality, classified as crimes against humanity and war crimes.”
The court found that he had formed two armed groups loyal to the former authorities that participated in deadly attacks near the capital, Damascus.
He was also convicted of inciting civil war and sectarian fighting, deprivation of liberty and torture.
He was acquitted of drug smuggling and trafficking due to insufficient evidence, and the court reserved the right to reopen that part of the case if new evidence emerged.
The ruling can be appealed to Syria’s highest judicial body, the court of cassation.
Wassim al-Assad is a second cousin of Bashar al-Assad and the fourth member of the family to be sentenced to death since the Damascus court began issuing verdicts in cases related to the 2011 to 2024 war this month.
Last Tuesday, the same court sentenced Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher and their first cousin Atef Najib to death in absentia for their role in the violent crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Daraa, the southern province that became the cradle of the Syrian uprising in 2011.
Bashar and Maher al-Assad are currently in Russia, having fled Syria when rebel forces seized power in December 2024.
Wassim al-Assad was arrested in June 2025, with his first trial session held in late June 2026.
Unlike Bashar and Maher who were tried in absentia, Wassim appeared in the dock throughout proceedings.
Syria’s transitional government has vowed to deliver justice and accountability for crimes committed under the former authorities, and has been working through hundreds of cases involving former officials and security operatives, though most of the top echelons of the former regime remain beyond reach in Russia.
(The Whistler)
