The death sentence in absentia of former Syrian leader Bashar Assad is one of the main topics in the Western press today, BTA reported.
Bashar Assad was sentenced to death in absentia by a Syrian court, reports the headline of the "Times" newspaper. The British publication specifies that the former president's brother Maher and his cousin Atef Najib were also sentenced to death - for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed from 2011 to 2024.
Syria sentenced Assad to death, reads the headline of the "Daily Telegraph". The former dictator was convicted in absentia of crimes against humanity, the British daily writes.
The deposed Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was sentenced to death in absentia yesterday after being found guilty of murder, torture and arbitrary arrests during the nearly 14-year civil war in Syria, writes the "Independent".
This is the first conviction of Assad, who was ousted from power in a rebel offensive in December 2024, which ended a decade of heavy-handed rule by the Assad clan, as well as the devastating war that claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Syria.
Assad fled Damascus during the offensive by opposition fighters nearly two years ago and is currently in Moscow, recalls "Independent". Assad's plane took off from Damascus on December 8, 2024, as rebels entered the Syrian capital.
In a trial of former government officials yesterday, a judge sentenced Assad to death for "deliberate killing of more than one person and children, torture, arbitrary arrest and crimes against humanity".
Bashar Assad, who was born in 1965, became president in 2000 after the death of his father, Hafez Assad. He has preserved his family's power and the dominant role of the Alawite community in the predominantly Sunni country. Thus, during his rule, Syria was an ally of Iran and opposed to Israel and the United States.
The street demonstrations that began in Syria in 2011, as part of the Arab Spring, were met with bloody repression by the authorities, recalls "Independent".
A Syrian court sentenced former President Bashar Assad and his brother Maher to death in absentia for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the 14-year civil war in Syria, in which about half a million people died, writes the "Guardian".
The two fled to Moscow after Assad was overthrown by a lightning offensive by the rebels in December 2024, which ended the regime in just 11 days.
The former president and his brother, who was considered the regime's most important security official, were held responsible for the brutal crackdown, in which government forces killed and arrested people, as well as arbitrarily arrested suspects, to crush protests that began in 2011, the British publication notes.
The court said it would take international measures to prosecute Assad and his brother, but the Russian authorities have so far refused to extradite their former Syrian allies.
"The Guardian" also draws attention to the death sentence of Assad's cousin - Atef Najib, which, unlike that of the former president, was pronounced in the presence of the accused. The newspaper recalls that in the past, Assad's cousin was the head of the security services in Daraa and that he was held responsible for torturing a group of 15 young men who had painted graffiti with slogans against Bashar Assad on a wall in 2011.
The trial against Najib received wide media coverage, with photos of him in prison clothes and in a cage in the courtroom while attending the hearing. "The Guardian" points out that the Syrian government presents this trial as a milestone in its quest for a just transition.
This is the first sentence that Bashar Assad has received since he fled to Russia in 2024, writes the "New York Times".