A Syrian court issues a death sentence against Wassim al-Assad, a relative of the ousted president

(CNN) - On Tuesday, the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus issued a death sentence against a relative of the ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Wassim al-Assad, after incriminating him on charges of premeditated murder, according to the official Syrian Al-Ikhbariya channel.

The Criminal Court judge said: “The court proved that the accused Waseem al-Assad was involved in forming fighter groups in Eastern Ghouta for the benefit of the former regime.”

The judge pointed out that an armed group led by Wassim al-Assad had been proven to be involved in “kidnappings and killings of Syrian citizens,” and confirmed that the court had proven that cases of “murder, torture, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearance of civilians” had occurred.

Based on these charges, Wassim al-Assad, the son of Badi al-Assad, who belongs to the Hafez al-Assad family, was charged with “premeditated murder” and was accordingly sentenced to death.

The court also imposed a “precautionary seizure on Waseem al-Assad’s movable and immovable assets,” according to the Syrian News Agency.

Wassim al-Assad was arrested in June 2025 in a “tight ambush,” according to what the Syrian Ministry of Interior stated at the time.

On August 11, a Syrian court issued a death sentence in absentia against the ousted Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, his younger brother Maher al-Assad, and a number of fleeing officials, against the backdrop of crimes against the Syrian people during the conflict that lasted 14 years in Syria, and resulted in the deaths of about half a million people.