After a Syrian court handed down sentences of death in absentia against several members of the Al-Assad family, including former president Bashar Al-Assad and his brother Maher, as well as a death sentence with the defendant present against former head of the Political Security branch in Daraa Atef Najib, some have questioned the foundations of the family and how they ruled Syria.
The Al-Assad family ruled or played a role in Syria's government for over five decades.