DAMASCUS
\nA Syrian court on Tuesday handed a death sentence to Wassim Assad who appeared in the dock, a cousin of longtime ruler Bashar Assad who was himself sentenced to death in absentia last week. The 46-year-old relative of Assad was convicted over atrocities committed under the autocrat\u2019s rule during the country\u2019s nearly 14-year civil war.
\nJudge Fakhr Al-Din Al-Aryan said Assad\u2019s cousin was convicted of multiple murders and \u201cmurder accompanied by torture and brutality… classified as crimes against humanity and war crimes,\u201d adding that \u201che is therefore sentenced to death.\u201d
\nSyria in April began proceedings against Bashar Assad and other officials accused of atrocities during the country\u2019s civil war, which erupted with the brutal repression of pro-democracy protesters by the former authorities. More than half a million people were subsequently killed and millions displaced, while tens of thousands disappeared.
\nThe court found that Wassim Assad had formed two armed groups loyal to the former authorities that took part in deadly attacks near capital Damascus. It also convicted him of inciting civil war and sectarian fighting, as well as deprivation of liberty and torture.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
DAMASCUS A Syrian court on Tuesday handed a death sentence to Wassim Assad who appeared in the dock, a cousin of longtime ruler Bashar Assad who was himself sentenced to death in absentia last week. The 46-year-old relative of Assad was convicted over atrocities committed under the autocrat\u2019s rule during the country\u2019s nearly 14-year civil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562733,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-562725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n