The Syrian former dictator Bashar al-Assad was sentenced to death in absentia this week for war crimes and crimes against humanity. In Syria, the verdict was welcomed by many people, but the chance that Assad will actually be executed seems small. He lives near Moscow, enjoys protection from President Vladimir Putin, and it does not appear that Russia intends to extradite him.
In Moscow, Assad lives in a large property, "in the Wassenaar of the city," says journalist Pjotr Sauer. He conducted research for The Guardian into the new life of the Assad family and grew up in the same neighborhood in Moscow. "The Russian elite actually looks down on him. They see him as a loser who lost his country. He is not invited to parties and we also do not see him around in photos on social media."
Assad is held responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Syrians. When he took office in 2000, Syrians still hoped for a more modern and milder leader than his father, Hafez al-Assad. He ruled his country with a hard hand, imprisoning, torturing, and murdering opponents of the regime, political opponents, and journalists.
'Rose in the Desert'
The hope that son Bashar would handle things differently quickly vanished. Under his leadership, dissenters were also arrested. During the Arab Spring in 2011, protests against the regime were brutally suppressed and demonstrators were shot. This was followed by a civil war that disrupted the country for years. Hundreds of thousands of people died.
When Assad's regime fell in 2024, he fled with his family to Russia, a loyal ally. The country has supported Assad since the beginning of the civil war in 2011, when the population demanded his resignation. During that bloody civil war, Russia helped the Syrian dictator in his fight against ISIS and other rebel groups, while Assad also acted with brutal violence against his own population.
In Moscow, Assad lives with his wife, the British-Syrian Asma. She was once called the 'Rose in the Desert' and compared to Princess Diana. But unlike Diana, she was, according to journalist Chloe Hadjimatheou, not a people's princess.
"The image of an elegant, highly educated, and articulate woman is persistent," says Hadjimatheou, who made the podcast We call her Emma about her. "People find it hard to believe that behind that appearance could be someone who is part of a regime guilty of industrial-scale torture and murder."
As far as is known, Asma herself has not killed anyone, says Hadjimatheou. "But there are accusations that she ordered the torture and arrest of people who stood in her way. And there are serious allegations that she supervised orphanages where kidnapped children were kept away from their families and used as leverage in the war."
Asma Assad had cancer twice. When the Assad regime fell, she was already in Moscow, where she was treated. She appeared in Moscow at the graduation ceremony of her daughter Zein, one of the three children of Bashar and Asma. Photos of the ceremony are on her daughter's university website. Sauer: "The Assad family sits in the front row."
Where their father does not show himself in public, the Assad children seem to have much more freedom of movement. "They travel. Especially to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where they throw big parties," Sauer discovered. "Rich kid parties. This is also visible on social media. Over the years, the family has sent a lot of money to Russia."
Putin's prestige
About the son Kareem, who speaks fluent Chinese, Hadjimatheou can tell that he is involved in business in China. "Something with artificial intelligence. His mother is involved and helps him with that enterprise."
The other son, Hafez, has also made himself heard. In a video from last year, you see him walking through the center of Moscow. Sauer: "In it, he basically tells his version of their flight from Syria."
What will happen next with the Assad family? Will Putin eventually extradite Assad? Sauer does not think so. "Putin's prestige is important to him. Think also of other leaders who might want to flee to Russia someday. Putin will want to show that they are safe with him."
Before Assad became the cruel dictator, he wanted to become an ophthalmologist, Sauer adds. "We have heard from sources around him that he might want to pick that up again. But otherwise, for him, it is actually a very lonely existence now."