Yesterday, French Justice issued an international arrest warrant against the Syrian president, Bashar al Assad, accused of complicity in crimes against humanity for the chemical attacks perpetrated in 2013 in Syria, the complainants announced yesterday.
A judicial source confirmed the issuance of four arrest warrants in the investigation into sarin gas attacks, which left more than 1,000 dead on August 21, 2013 in the Syrian region of Eastern Ghouta, according to US intelligence services.
These orders, for complicity in crimes against humanity and complicity in war crimes, also target the de facto head of the elite unit of the Syrian Army and brother of the president, Maher al Assad, and two generals.
Investigative judges from the crimes against humanity unit of the Paris court have been investigating these crimes attributed to the Syrian regime since April 2021, following a complaint from three groups, including the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM). .
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These investigations also examine the attacks carried out in Adra and Douma in the early hours of August 5, which left 450 injured. “This decision constitutes a historic judicial precedent. “It is a new victory for the victims, their families and survivors, as well as a step towards justice and lasting peace in Syria,” Mazen Darwish, founder of SCM, said in a statement.
The Syrian government faces several legal actions in Europe, especially in Germany. In France, the first trial will take place from May 21 to 24 in Paris.
Three senior Syrian officials will be tried for crimes against humanity and war crimes for the death of two Franco-Syrian citizens.
In October, French justice issued arrest warrants against four former senior leaders of the Syrian Army, in another case regarding a 2017 bombing of Daraa. The conflict in Syria, which began in 2011, left more than half a million dead and divided the country.
Source: Ambito
