On Tuesday, the Damascus Criminal Court sentenced Wasim Assad to death after finding him guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. According to the court, he created and controlled armed groups that carried out killings, torture and extrajudicial executions of civilians in Eastern Ghouta and its surrounding areas during the rule of the former regime. The trial took place במסגרת transitional justice, with the participation of state bodies, the prosecution, the defense and human rights organizations. The court stressed that such crimes are not subject to a statute of limitations.
The investigation established that in 2011, Assad coordinated his actions with officers from the 4th Division and formed two armed groups within the auxiliary forces. He supplied them with weapons, ammunition, food and money, and directed their activities. The groups were particularly active in the town of al-Malihah: after shelling, they took up positions, looted homes and shops, and then sold the stolen goods at specially established markets. Assad’s subordinates also abducted civilians, tortured them and executed detainees, whose bodies were discarded in the gardens of al-Malihah.
The presiding judge, Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan, said that one protected witness survived after revealing his religious affiliation. The court regarded the episode as evidence that religion had been used to select victims and that the killings had been committed on the basis of identity. Assad was found directly responsible for intentional killings accompanied by exceptional cruelty and torture. He was additionally sentenced to three years for intentionally causing injuries resulting in permanent disability and three years for fraud; however, the final punishment was the death penalty as the most severe sanction.
The court acquitted Wasim Assad on charges of smuggling and drug trafficking because of a lack of sufficient direct material evidence. In particular, photographs showing him with suspects were not considered, by themselves, grounds for a conviction. If new evidence emerges, the prosecution may reopen the case. The court also maintained the seizure of the defendant’s property, converting it into an enforceable attachment, and ordered him to pay compensation to recognized claimants, while leaving the rights of other victims and the relatives of those killed unrestricted.
The convicted man’s remaining assets, after compensation has been paid and obligations settled, are to be confiscated for the benefit of the state. The court extended witness-protection measures and prohibited disclosure of the witnesses’ identities and places of residence, keeping the information in sealed records. A copy of the ruling was sent to the National Authority for Missing Persons to assist in the search for the remains of victims who are believed to have been buried in the gardens of al-Malihah.
The court said it had relied on the principle of interaction between national justice and international criminal law, classifying the acts as war crimes and crimes against humanity. This allowed it to reject any possible appeals to statutes of limitations, immunity or amnesty. A representative of the National Authority for Transitional Justice confirmed that the death penalty remains legal in Syria and that courts are not authorized to abolish or suspend it. Wasim Assad, Bashar Assad’s cousin, was arrested on June 21, 2025, at the Syrian-Lebanese border. He had previously been linked to abductions, looting, extortion, and networks involved in the production and smuggling of Captagon.
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What was the Syrian army’s 4th Division, and what role did it play in suppressing the uprising after 2011? — The 4th Division was an elite military formation that was among the government’s most loyal units. It was commanded by Maher Assad, Bashar Assad’s brother. The division had heavy weapons and carried out missions considered particularly important to the regime. After the uprising began in 2011, it was deployed to areas affected by protests and fighting. It took part in city sieges, offensive operations and the suppression of the opposition, often alongside other security structures and allied forces.
Why were Eastern Ghouta and the town of al-Malihah strategically important during the fighting around Damascus? — Eastern Ghouta was a large agricultural and suburban area east of Damascus controlled by various armed groups. Its proximity to the capital allowed the opposition to threaten government facilities and key transport routes, while for the authorities, control of the area was essential to protecting Damascus and its surroundings. Al-Malihah was particularly important as a hub on the southern approaches to the capital: roads and supply lines ran through it, and control of the town helped government forces divide opposition-held areas, advance toward Eastern Ghouta, and secure military facilities and the airport.
How is Syria’s National Authority for Missing Persons organized, and how can it use court materials to search for victims’ remains? — The National Authority for Missing Persons is being established as a state body responsible for centrally collecting information on people who disappeared during the war, maintaining a unified register, accepting claims from families, coordinating exhumations and the identification of remains, and cooperating with courts and international organizations. Court materials may contain witness testimony, security-service documents, photographs, maps, coordinates, and information about detention sites and burial grounds. By comparing these data with archives, satellite imagery, relatives’ testimony and the findings of forensic examinations, the authority can identify probable burial sites and the identities of those killed. This requires the body to be independent, witnesses to be protected, and evidence to be preserved so that the search for remains does not become a politically controlled process.
Full version: Syrian Criminal Court Rules to Execute Wasim Assad