A court in Damascus has sentenced Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to death after convicting him of premeditated murder, torture and inciting violence during Syria's civil war. The court found him guilty of commanding militias that committed what the judge described as war crimes, including in Eastern Ghouta and Syria's coastal provinces. The court also ordered the seizure of his assets and compensation for his victims. Survivors welcomed the verdict, while families of those killed and forcibly disappeared say they hope it will pave the way for further prosecutions of members of the former Assad regime. The UN estimates that at least 130,000 people were forcibly disappeared during the war.
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