On Wednesday, the Paris Court of Appeal ratified the arrest warrant issued by investigating judges against the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, who is accused of complicity in committing crimes against humanity in the deadly chemical attacks that took place in August 2013, according to the victims’ lawyers and non-governmental organizations.
At the conclusion of the deliberations that took place in a closed session, the civil parties’ lawyers announced to the press that “the approval had been made.”
Thus, the Investigative Chamber rejected the request of the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office to cancel the arrest warrant due to the personal immunity of presidents while they are in power.
Since 2021, investigating judges from the Crimes Against Humanity Unit of the Paris Judicial Court have been investigating the chain of command that led to chemical attacks on the night of August 4-5, 2013 in Adra and Douma near Damascus (450 injured), and on August 21, 2013 in Eastern Ghouta, which killed more than a thousand people, according to US intelligence.
Their investigations led to the issuance of 4 arrest warrants in November 2023 on charges of complicity in crimes against humanity and complicity in war crimes.
In addition to Assad, the arrest warrants target his brother Maher, the de facto commander of the Fourth Division in the Syrian army, and two other brigadier generals: Ghassan Abbas, director of Branch 450 of the Center for Syrian Studies and Scientific Research, and Bassam Al-Hassan, advisor to the President of the Republic for strategic affairs, liaison officer between the presidential palace and the Center for Scientific Research. .
An arrest warrant was issued against Al-Assad based on a criminal complaint filed by French-Syrian victims, the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, the Syrian Archive, the Open Society Justice Initiative, and the Civil Rights Defenders Organization.
Since 2011, Syria has witnessed a bloody conflict that has caused the death of more than half a million people and the displacement of more than half of the population.
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