Bashar al-Assad

Rule Changes

In exile in Russia since December 2024

A Syrian military court sentenced two former Assad loyalists to death on October 15 and gave prison terms to five members of the new government's security forces, including 20 years for intentional homicide and three years for torture. Judges at the Aleppo court acquitted two security personnel and sentenced a third former regime supporter to 12 years.

Updated Oct 20

Rule Changes

As of May 2026: Charged in absentia; in exile in Russia

On April 26, 2026, a brigadier general in a brown prison uniform stepped into an iron cage at Damascus's Palace of Justice. The general was Atef Najib, al-Assad's cousin, whose 2011 detention of Deraa teenagers lit the fuse of Syria's civil war; he became the first official of the fallen regime to face a public trial.

Updated May 31

Force in Play

As of May 2026: In exile in Moscow with family since December 8, 2024

On December 8, 2024, Bashar al-Assad's regime collapsed after an 11-day offensive by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, ending the 53-year dynasty. Regime forces simply melted away, and Assad fled to Moscow. On January 7, 2025, a Qatar Airways flight landed in Damascus, the first international arrival in 13 years, as the new transitional government began the monumental task of rebuilding a shattered nation.

Updated May 19