DAMASCUS, Syria — Syrian authorities have issued an arrest warrant for former President Bashar al-Assad, accusing him of murder and torture resulting in death, according to the state-run news agency SANA.
The charges stem from alleged violence carried out by regime security forces in the southern city of Deraa in 2011, said investigative judge Tawfiq al-Ali.
Assad was ousted in December 2024 following a military offensive led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). He fled to Russia as his regime collapsed.
The crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011 triggered a civil war that lasted more than a decade.