Can Syria deliver transitional justice?

A court has sentenced ousted former leader Bashar al-Assad and others to death in absentia.

Syrians have been demanding accountability for the murders, disappearances and torture carried out by the government of Bashar al-Assad during nearly 14 years of war.

Now a court in Damascus has sentenced al-Assad to death in absentia, along with his brother Maher and six other former high-ranking officials, for crimes carried out during the conflict.

Al-Assad’s cousin and former Deraa province security chief Atef Najib was present at the trial and also sentenced to death.

The verdicts are being hailed by Syria’s new government as a landmark moment for justice. But they raise questions about what transitional justice should entail.

How far will the government go in pursuing former regime officials?

Fadel Abdulghany – Founder and executive director of the Syrian Network for Human Rights

Gamal Mansour – Political scientist whose research focuses on Syria under the al-Assad regime