Former Leader Sentenced to Death for Premeditated Murder

Sasha Mordovets / Getty Images Former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad was sentenced to death on Tuesday after a court convicted him of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Assad, who fled to Moscow with his wife Asma and their children after his government was ousted in December 2024, was tried in absentia in Damascus. Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan convicted Assad of crimes including premeditated murder, the killing of children under 15, torture leading to death, and unlawful imprisonment…