What's next for the former Syrian president and his wife?

When Bashar al-Assad was ousted on Sunday, he turned the page not only on his 24-year presidency, but on more than 50 years of his family's rule of Syria.

Before Assad took office in 2000, his late father, Hafez, was president for three decades.

And now with the rebels Led by the extremist Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) With the formation of a transitional government, the future of the ousted president, his wife, and their three children is uncertain.

They are now in Russia, where they have been granted asylum, but what awaits them?

Russia was a staunch ally of Assad during the Syrian civil war and has two major military bases in the Middle Eastern country.

In 2015, Russia launched an air campaign in support of Assad, turning the tide of the war in the government's favor.

A UK-based monitoring group reported that more than 21,000 people, including 8,700 civilians, were killed in Russian military operations over the next nine years.

However, preoccupied with its war in Ukraine, Russia has been either unwilling or unable to help Assad's government stop the rebel blitz after it began in late November.

Hours after rebel forces took control of Damascus, Russian state media reported that Assad and his family had arrived in Moscow and would be granted asylum “on humanitarian grounds.”

But when Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked about Assad's whereabouts and asylum request by reporters on Monday, he said: “I have nothing to tell you… now. Of course, such a decision (on granting asylum) cannot be made without the head of state.” “His decision.”

The Assad family's ties to Russia, specifically Moscow, are well documented.

A 2019 investigation by the Financial Times concluded that the large Assad family bought at least 18 luxury apartments in the Russian capital, in an attempt to keep tens of millions of dollars out of Syria during the civil war.

Meanwhile, Assad's eldest son, Hafez, is a doctoral student in the city – with a local newspaper last week reporting on the 22-year-old's doctoral thesis.

Amid the chaos that erupted over the weekend, Russian state television reported that officials in Moscow held talks with the “armed Syrian opposition” to secure Russian bases and diplomatic missions.

Assad is married to a dual British-Syrian citizen, Asma, who was born and raised in west London to Syrian parents.

She attended school and university in London before becoming an investment banker.

Asma moved to Syria full-time in 2000 and married Assad around the time he succeeded his father as president.

Dr Nisreen Al-Rifai, a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science, told BBC News that Asmaa “holds a British passport, so she can return to the UK” rather than remain in Russia.

“But the United States has imposed sanctions on her father, Dr. Fawaz Al-Akhras, who is also reported to be in Russia,” she added, indicating that Asma may want to remain in Moscow for the time being.

In a Mail Online report, neighbors were quoted as saying that Asma's father, a cardiologist, and her mother, Sahar, a retired diplomat, wanted to be in Moscow to “consolate” their daughter and son-in-law.

Al-Assad and his wife have three sons: Hafez, a doctoral student, Zain and Karim.

A 2022 US State Department report to Congress said the net worth of the extended Assad family was between $1 billion (£790 million) and $2 billion (£1.6 billion) – although it noted that this was difficult to estimate because “it is believed that… Their origins are spread out.” And hide it in many accounts, real estate portfolios, companies, and offshore tax havens.”

According to the report, Bashar and Asma maintained “close patronage relationships with the largest economic players in Syria, using their companies to launder money from illicit activities and transfer funds to the regime.”

She also said that Asmaa had “influence on the economic committee managing the ongoing economic crisis in Syria” – and that she had made key decisions on “food and fuel support, trade and currency issues” in Syria.

It also exercised influence over the Syrian Development Trust, through which most foreign aid for reconstruction in regime-controlled areas was directed.

In 2020, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo claimed that Asma had “become one of the most notorious war profiteers in Syria” with the help of her husband and family.

Another senior Trump administration official described her as the “head of the family business” and an “oligarch” who was competing with Bashar’s cousin Rami Makhlouf.

He is one of the richest men in Syria and a family rift arose Knowing the audience after posting videos on social networking sites He complains about his treatment.

After the fall of the Assad regime, Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard said that Syrians were subjected to what she called “a horrific list of human rights violations that have caused untold human suffering on a massive scale.”

This includes “chemical weapons attacks, barrel bombs and other war crimes, as well as murder, torture, enforced disappearance and extermination that amount to crimes against humanity.”

She called on the international community to ensure that persons suspected of committing violations of international law and other serious human rights violations are investigated and prosecuted for their crimes.

The leader of the Islamic rebels in Syria announced on Tuesday that the names of any senior officials of the ousted regime found to be involved in the torture of political prisoners would be revealed.

Abu Muhammad al-Julani also said that the so-called Syrian Salvation Government will seek to return officials it has identified who have fled to another country.

in france, He calls on investigating judges to issue an arrest warrant against Al-Assad For alleged complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes, in connection with the deadly chemical attack in Syria in 2013 under the legal concept of universal jurisdiction.

Russia does not extradite its citizens – a legal process whereby someone is returned to another state or country to be tried for a suspected crime.

It is unlikely that Assad will leave Russia and go to a country where he could be extradited to Syria or to any other country that might accuse him of committing a crime.