Jean Sulzer and Clemence Witt, legal professionals representing the plaintiffs and NGOs who filed the complaint against the Syrian president in France, called the verdict a historic decision and “a major step forward in the fight against impunity.”
In May, French anti-terrorism prosecutors requested the Paris appeals court to rule on lifting the arrest warrant for Assad, saying he enjoys absolute immunity as the serving head of state.
Legal professionals told the associated press, “This is the first time that a national court has recognized that the personal immunity of a serving head of state is not absolute.”
The French judicial government issued a global arrest warrant for Assad, expiring in November; his brother Maher Assad, commander of the 4th Armored Division; And two Syrian generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan, were convicted for alleged involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity. they come with 2013 chemical attack Next on the opposition-held Damascus suburbs.
Attack victims welcome France’s decision to issue arrest warrants as reminder of horror Syrian civil war,
Four people named in the arrest warrant could also be arrested and brought to France to continue the investigation into the 2013 attacks in Japanese Ghouta and Douma, lawyers said. President Assad will not face trial in France Global warrants are highly unusual for a serving international leader and send a strong message about Assad’s leadership at a time when few countries have welcomed him Again in diplomatic confusion.
More than 1,000 people were killed and thousands were injured. August 2013 attacks On Douma and Japanese Ghouta.
The attacks are investigated in France through a separate unit of the Paris Judicial Court under general jurisdiction. It was opened in 2021 based on a criminal complaint filed by survivors Syrian Heart for Media and Freedom of Tone,
The center’s director, Syrian lawyer Mazen Darwish, said, “The historic decision is a victory not only for Syrian victims, but for victims everywhere.”
“This is a historic opportunity to right a legal and moral wrong,” Darwish said in an interview. “This shows that there is no immunity when we are talking about crimes against humanity and the use of chemical weapons against civilians.”
Assad’s government was largely considered by the world community to be responsible for the sarin gas attack in the then opposition-held Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta. The Syrian government and its allies have denied responsibility and said the attack was carried out by opposition forces to pressure foreign military intervention.
The US threatened military retaliation after the attack, with then-President Barack Obama saying the cost to Assad of chemical weapons could be Washington’s “red line”. On the other hand, the American public and Congress are wary of a new war as the attacks in Afghanistan and Iraq have turned into a quagmire.
Washington struck a trade deal with Moscow to return Syria’s chemical gun stockpiles.
Syria says it destroyed its chemical arsenal under a 2013 pledge. On the other hand, monitoring groups have been alleging chemical attacks by the Syrian Executive Forces since the next day.
Syria is not a member of the Global Prisons Court, meaning the court no longer has jurisdiction there. On the other hand, within the year human rights legal professionals Prosecutors advised a clear investigation He is a member of the court, arguing that the court could exercise jurisdiction over Syrian civilians forced into custody in Jordan for crimes during the country’s civil war.
So far, the court has not opened an investigation.
As well as France, court cases over chemical attacks in Japanese Ghouta in 2013 and Khan Shaykhun in 2017 have been handed over to the government in Germany in 2020 and in Sweden in 2021, according to observers’ testimony, optic evidence and a series of details. . Command of organizations suspected of carrying out attacks.
An investigative team from the Group for the Prohibition of Chemical Guns has repeatedly discovered Syrian army’s old chemical guns, including the attack on Douma in April 2018. On the other hand, the OPCW no longer has any way to prosecute criminals.
In a separate case, a Paris court ended the life 3 high-ranking Syrian officials sentenced Will be jailed in his absence for involvement in war crimes in a landmark case Assad’s executive And the first such case in Europe.
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Surk reported from the Great. Associated Press journalists Diane Jeantet in Paris and Karim Cheheb in Beirut contributed to this record.
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