Syrian Court Sentences Bashar al-Assad's Cousin Wassim to Death for War Crimes

A Syrian court on Tuesday handed a death sentence to Wassim al-Assad, a 46-year-old cousin of ousted Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.

Wassim al-Assad was convicted of multiple murders and murder accompanied by torture and brutality, which were classified as crimes against humanity and war crimes. This marks the first time an al-Assad family member has been sentenced in person. The Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus also found him guilty of inciting civil war and sectarian fighting, as well as deprivation of liberty and torture.

He was found not guilty of drug smuggling and trafficking due to insufficient evidence, though the court reserved the right to reopen that case. The court determined that Wassim al-Assad had formed two armed groups loyal to the former authorities, which participated in deadly attacks near the capital Damascus. Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan, head of the Fourth District Criminal Court, stated that forces under Wassim Al Assad's command committed a massacre of 75 civilians in Mleiha, Ghouta, in 2013, and oversaw the execution of three civilians in Eastern Ghouta in 2012.

The ruling can be appealed to the court of cassation, Syria’s highest judicial body. Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher al-Assad were sentenced to death in absentia a week earlier, as they fled to Russia after al-Assad was ousted in December 2024. Their first cousin Atif Najib also received a death sentence. Wassim Al Assad was arrested in June last year, with Syria's Interior Ministry describing him as a leader of the Baath Brigades militia and one of the top criminals in the bygone regime.