- Bashar al-Assad sentenced to death for war crimes.
- Saddam Hussein, Bhutto, Ceaușescu also faced death.
- Sheikh Hasina sentenced in absentia for crimes.
A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced the country's ousted President Bashar al-Assad to death in absentia. The court found Assad guilty of "war crimes and crimes against humanity" during the Syrian civil war. Bashar was removed from power in December 2024. At the end of his rule, when Islamist forces began to surround Damascus, Assad fled to Moscow with his family.
Meanwhile, Assad is not the first former head of state to be sentenced to death (either personally or in absentia). Several others got similar punishment after being removed from power.
1. Saddam Hussein (Former President of Iraq)
President Saddam Hussein was removed from power in 2003 following the US invasion of Iraq during George Bush's presidency. Saddam was subsequently convicted of crimes against humanity in the 1982 Dujail massacre and sentenced to death by a court in November 2006. He was executed on December 30, 2006.
2. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Former Prime Minister of Pakistan)
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in 1979 for approving a political assassination in 1974. This sentence was handed down after he was removed from power in a military coup by General Zia-ul-Haq in 1977. Bhutto was executed on April 4, 1979.
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3. Chun Doo-hwan (Former President of South Korea)
Former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan was sentenced to death in 1996 for treason and rebellion related to the 1979 coup and the Gwangju Uprising. Doo-hwan's sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. However, the sentence was not fully implemented, as he was later pardoned.
4. Sheikh Hasina (Former Prime Minister of Bangladesh)
Sheikh Hasina was prosecuted for the student protests of July-August 2024. Hasina was charged with crimes against humanity. The International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh sentenced her to death in absentia in late 2025.
Hasina fled to India after being removed from power on August 5, 2024, due to a student-led uprising. She has since remained in New Delhi and stated that she would return to Bangladesh in December this year. Bangladesh responded to this statement by saying that she would be arrested upon arrival in the country.
5. Nicolae Ceaușescu (Former President of Romania)
Nicolae Ceaușescu was the General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party and President of Communist Romania. When communism collapsed in the country in 1989, a military tribunal hastily sentenced Ceaușescu to death on Christmas Day that year. He was charged with genocide and sabotaging the country's economy. Ceaușescu was immediately executed by firing squad.
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