Syria's death sentence for Assad puts new strain on revamped relationship with Russia

A Syrian court sentenced former President Bashar Assad to death, testing the new government's relationship with Russia.

Assad secretly fled Syria the night before rebels seized Damascus, taking refuge in Moscow with his family. He's been closely guarded and closed off from the world since, as Russia has sought to secure a relationship with the new regime led by President Ahmed al Sharaa.

Little united the Syrian rebels during the country's civil war from 2011 to 2024 outside of their hatred of Assad, and Damascus has sought to cultivate this memory of bitterness to keep the country's disparate groups together. This culminated in a Tuesday decision from the Fourth Criminal Court in Damascus, giving the highest penalty to Assad, his brother, and his maternal cousin, only the latter of whom was sentenced in person.