France’s justice system is taking action: arrest warrants against the Syrian ruler Assad and his closest allies for their involvement in poison gas attacks, which are classified as war crimes.
France’s judiciary issued an arrest warrant against Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad over ten years ago in connection with poison gas attacks. He is accused of complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes in poison gas attacks near the Syrian capital Damascus, as the German Press Agency in Paris learned from judicial circles.
Two investigating judges also issued an arrest warrant in the case against Assad’s brother and commander of an elite unit of the Syrian armed forces, Maher al-Assad, as well as the two officials Ghassam Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan.
A lot of deaths
Specifically, the investigation revolves around serious poison gas attacks in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus in August 2013. Hundreds of people were killed there in an attack using the nerve gas sarin. Human rights organizations speak of more than 1,000 deaths.
Assad’s government soon agreed to destroy his chemical weapons following international pressure. Nevertheless, there were numerous attacks with poison gas later on, for which UN mediators blame the government.
In March 2021, several human rights organizations filed a criminal complaint in France about the attacks in Eastern Ghouta, including the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression. Its director, Masen Darwisch, praised the issuance of the arrest warrants as a legal precedent. “It is a new victory for the victims, their families and the survivors, and a step towards justice and sustainable peace in Syria.”
Source: Stern
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