New Delhi, Aug. 11 -- Syria's ousted president Bashar al-Assad and Atef Najib, the former head of political security in southern Syria's Deraa province, have been sentenced to death by a criminal court in Damascus.

The Damascus court found Bashar al-Assad guilty of premeditated murder, while Najib was convicted of premeditated murder and torture. Bashar al-Assad was sentenced in absentia after being convicted over charges relating to war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Syria's civil war.

The acts attributed to him are "crimes against humanity", the court said as it handed down "the harshest punishment against him, which is the death penalty".

The ruling is the first death sentence handed down against Assad by Syria'...