Atef Najib, a former Syrian security official and cousin of ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, was sentenced to death by the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus on Tuesday. The court found that crimes committed by al-Assad’s government in Deraa province during the 2011 crackdown amounted to crimes against humanity.
Najib was sentenced alongside Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother, Maher al-Assad, who were also given the death penalty in absentia for crimes including premeditated murder. Unlike the two former leaders, Najib was physically present in Syria and has been detained there since January 2025.
What the court found
The ruling said Najib was involved in torturing a large number of detainees and was responsible for the deaths of many people during their detention. He faced at least 10 charges, including murder, torture, responsibility for massacres and crimes against humanity connected to the 2011 Deraa crackdown.
Najib was the former head of political security in Deraa, where teenagers were arrested and tortured after writing antigovernment graffiti on a school wall. The incident became a catalyst for the wider uprising that later developed into Syria’s civil war.
Najib’s role and detention
Najib, 66, is Bashar al-Assad’s first cousin. He joined the Military Academy in Homs in the early 1980s and later became head of political security in Deraa, remaining in the post during the initial outbreak of the uprising in March 2011. The former government officially removed him in April 2011.
After al-Assad was overthrown in December 2024, Najib fled Syria and later returned. Interior Ministry general security forces arrested him in January 2025 during a campaign against remnants of the former government in Latakia province.
Why the verdict matters
The proceedings began on April 26, and the court issued its judgment after closing arguments and Najib’s final statement were heard in the eighth session. Al Jazeera reported that 75 plaintiffs filed cases against him and were understood to have testified during the trial.
The case is the first decision by a Syrian court against a senior figure from the al-Assad era under the current transitional authorities. It is also being watched as a test of Syria’s transitional justice system and of the government’s willingness to pursue accountability for abuses committed during the war.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights estimated in a 2025 report that more than 181,000 people were forcibly disappeared or arbitrarily detained during the conflict, with 90 percent attributed to the al-Assad regime. The verdict is therefore expected to shape the legal basis for future cases involving former government officials.
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