Syria: death sentence against Assad with no consequences?
A court in Damascus has sentenced Syria's former president, Bashar al-Assad, to death in absentia. He was charged with premeditated murder of multiple people, torture, arbitrary imprisonment, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Assad and his brother Mahir, who was also sentenced to death, fled to Russia in December 2024. At present there is no indication that they will be extradited.
Life of luxury in Moscow exile
Assad is unlikely to be particularly concerned, Corriere della Sera puts in:
“During the 13 years in which he suppressed the uprising against him – which escalated into a civil war – the thugs under his command have shed a great deal of blood. ... The dictator is spending his exile in luxury in Moscow under the Kremlin's protection, dividing his time between a lavish penthouse in the centre of the capital and a villa in the upmarket suburbs. While the secret services and the army starved the rebellious towns and villages, his wife Asma continued to buy designer furniture online. The family was not able to take it all with them, but the billions accumulated during his reign were waiting in Russian bank accounts.”
War crimes eventually catch up with you
Assad's fate should serve as a warning to his patron, Putin, says The Daily Telegraph:
“Syrians endured decades of repression before finally turning against Assad. Russians ... may eventually decide that they have had enough of Putin too. Dictators often imagine that fear will last forever. History suggests otherwise. ... War crimes and crimes against humanity do not simply disappear because the perpetrator has an army, a palace or a powerful friend. Eventually, they catch up with you. Assad may be hiding in Moscow today, but history has a very long memory. Assad's protector Vladimir Putin would do well to remember that.”
A missed opportunity
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung takes a sceptical view of the verdict:
“It is above all the result of symbolic politics. In this way, the new leadership under interim President Ahmed al-Scharaa is demonstrating its resolve on an emotionally charged issue. It has also sent a deterrent signal to those who still dream of a resurgence of the old regime – even if the new Syrian judiciary should, in principle, refrain from handing down death sentences or actually carrying them out. In the best case the new rulers in Damascus have bought themselves time to establish a transitional justice system that will deal with the crimes of the Assad regime thoroughly and transparently. In this respect, the verdict handed down within a matter of months is a missed opportunity.”