A Syrian court sentenced ousted leader Bashar al-Assad and his brother Maher to death on Tuesday (August 11) after a trial in absentia.

The court convicted Assad of crimes including killings, torture, and arbitrary arrest during the country's nearly 14-year war.

It was the first Syrian conviction against the former president, who was ousted in a rebel offensive in December 2024 that ended decades of his family's iron-fisted rule over Syria, and the brutal war that killed hundreds of thousands of Syrians.

Assad's brother Maher headed the fearsome Fourth Armoured Division, which was responsible for crackdowns on protests, recapturing Syrian territory on behalf of Assad and was accused of spearheading the production and trade of drugs to enrich Assad.

A death sentence was also handed down to Atef Najib, an Assad-era security official in the southern province of Deraa, where the first protests against Assad erupted in 2011.

Assad fled the capital Damascus as rebel fighters closed in nearly two years ago, and is currently in Russia, where he and his family were granted asylum on humanitarian grounds.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

REFILE: Archive visuals of Syria's Maher al-Assad as court sentences him to death

VIDEO SHOWS: ARCHIVE FOOTAGE AND STILLS SHOWING MAHER AL-ASSAD, BROTHER OF SYRIAN OUSTED PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD

EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT HAS BEEN RESENT WITH ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE (SHOTS NO. 3-10)

RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT

SHOWS: DAMASCUS SYRIA (ARCHIVE - JUNE 13, 2000) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS - Access all)

1. COFFIN OF LATE SYRIAN PRESIDENT HAFEZ AL-ASSAD BEING CARRIED ON GUN CARRIAGE BEHIND TRUCK / THEN SYRIAN PRESIDENT, BASHAR AL-ASSAD, AND HIS BROTHER MAHER WALKING IN GROUP BY COFFIN

2. BASHAR AL-ASSAD (R) AND HIS BROTHER MAHER (L) IN GROUP OF SUITED MEN BEHIND COFFIN

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (ARCHIVE - JUNE 13, 2000) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (SYRIAN TV - No use Syria) (QUALITY AS INCOMING)

3. VARIOUS OF HAFEZ AL-ASSAD'S COFFIN ARRIVING AT PALACE

4. VARIOUS OF BASHAR AL-ASSAD, MAHER AL-ASSAD AND ASSEF SHAWKAT (WITH MOUSTACHE) PAYING THEIR LAST RESPECTS

DAMASCUS, SYRIA (ARCHIVE - JUNE 13, 2000) (REUTERS - Access all) (MUTE)

5. STILL SHOWING MAHER AL-ASSAD (CENTRE) STANDING BETWEEN BASHAR AL-ASSAD (RIGHT) AND SHAWKAT (LEFT) AT FUNERAL OF HAFEZ AL-ASSAD

6. ZOOM IN ON MAHER AL-ASSAD

7. FURTHER ZOOM IN ON MAHER AL-ASSAD

8. STILL SHOWING MAHER AL-ASSAD (LEFT), BASHAR AL-ASSAD (CENTRE) WITH THEIR SISTER BUSHRA WALKING BEHIND COFFIN OF HAFEZ AL-ASSAD DURING FUNERAL

9. ZOOM IN ON MAHER AND BASHAR

QARDAHA, SYRIA (ARCHIVE - JUNE 10, 2001) (REUTERS - Access all) (MUTE)

10. STILL SHOWING MAHER AL-ASSAD (LEFT) WITH THEN LEBANESE PRESIDENT EMILE LAHOUD (CENTRE) AND BASHAR AL-ASSAD (RIGHT) ATTENDING EVENT MARKING FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF DEATH OF HAFEZ AL-ASSAD AT HIS GRAVE IN HIS HOMETOWN OF QARDAHA

QARDAHA, SYRIA (ARCHIVE - MAY 26, 2024) (REUTERS - Access all) (MUTE)

11. STILL OF A BANNER, FEATURING PICTURES OF (L TO R) THEN SYRIAN PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD, HIS FATHER LATE PRESIDENT HAFEZ AL-ASSAD, AND HIS BROTHER MAHER AL-ASSAD, HANGING AT A SHOP

UNKNOWN LOCATION (ARCHIVE) (SANA - No use Syria) (MUTE)

12. STILL SHOWING HAFEZ AL-ASSAD, HIS WIFE ANISEH, (SITTING) AND SONS MAHER, BASHAR, BASSEL, MAJD AND DAUGHTER BUSHRA (STANDING, L-R) POSING FOR A FAMILY PORTRAIT