Damascus Court Sentences Wassim al-Assad to Death for War Crimes

TUNIS, August 18. /TASS/. The Fourth Criminal Court of Damascus sentenced Wassim al-Assad, the cousin of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to death, finding him guilty of murder and torture, which were classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity, according to the Syria TV channel.

According to its information, the court found Wassim al-Assad guilty of the premeditated murder of several people, murder involving torture, as well as acts aimed at inciting a civil war and an interfaith conflict. He was also charged with unlawful imprisonment and torture as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The court also sentenced him to three years in prison for intentionally causing harm to health, resulting in permanent disability, and for fraud, and imposed a fine of 1,000 Syrian pounds.

At the same time, Wasim Assad was cleared of charges of smuggling and drug trafficking due to insufficient evidence. The court ordered the seizure of his movable and immovable property.

The decision was made approximately a year after Wasim Assad was detained near the Syrian-Lebanese border. Court hearings in his case began on June 24.

Wasim Assad was born in 1980 in the city of Kardaha, Latakia Province. According to the channel, after the conflict in Syria began in 2011, he was linked to the creation of armed groups, providing them with weapons and financing, as well as participating in combat operations. He was also accused of murder, extortion, bribery, drug trafficking, and smuggling. At the same time, he did not hold high official positions in the state structures of the former Syrian government. The United States and European countries had previously placed him on sanctions lists due to activities related to armed groups and networks involved in the production and smuggling of captagon. As Syria TV points out, a death sentence does not necessarily mean it will be carried out immediately: Syrian law provides for a number of procedures before such a decision is enforced, and the sentence itself may be appealed in accordance with the established procedure.