A Syrian court sentenced ousted leader Bashar al-Assad to death on Tuesday after a trial in absentia, convicting him of crimes, including killings, torture and arbitrary arrest, during the country’s nearly 14-year war.It was the first Syrian conviction against Assad, who was ousted in a rebel offensive in December 2024 that ended decades of his family’s iron-fisted rule over Syria and the brutal war that killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians. Syrians gathered around the court in Damascus, chanting, clapping and waving the Syrian flag as news of the sentences spread. Assad fled Damascus as rebel fighters closed in nearly two years ago, and is currently in Russia, where he and his family were granted asylum on humanitarian grounds.In a trial of former government officials on Tuesday, a judge handed down a death sentence to the former President over the crimes of “premeditated and intentional murder of more than one person and of children, torture, arbitrary arrest and crimes against humanity”.The judge issued the same sentence in absentia to Assad’s brother Maher, who headed the fearsome Fourth Armoured Division, which was responsible for crackdowns on protests, recapturing Syrian territory on behalf of Assad and was accused of spearheading the production and trade of drugs to enrich Assad.