Linda, France — The French prosecutor’s office has asked the country’s highest court to rule on the validity of the international arrest warrant against the Syrian president. Bashar al-Assad for alleged complicity in War crimes during the Syrian civil waraccording to a statement on Tuesday.
Court of Appeal judges ruled last week that the Arrest warrant issued by France against Assad in November is valid and remains in force, rejecting prosecutors’ argument that he has absolute immunity as a sitting head of state.
Lawyers for the victims said that ruling was the first time a national court recognized that the personal immunity of a sitting head of state is not absolute. They hailed it as a historic ruling and a “great step forward in the fight against impunity.”
However, prosecutors filed an appeal to the Court of Cassation, calling it “necessary from a legal point of view”, asking that the highest court examine the issue of personal immunity of a sitting head of state in relation with accusations of war crimes. and crimes against humanity, according to the prosecutor’s statement.
Lawyers representing the victims and the non-governmental organizations that filed the complaint against the Syrian president in France argue that prosecutors’ appeal is “unjustified.”
“The Public Prosecutor’s Office’s challenge to the French Supreme Court once again threatens the victims’ tireless efforts to have Bashar Assad finally tried before an independent court,” said Paris Bar lawyers Jeanne Sulzer and Clemence Witt , in a statement sent to the Associated Press.
In addition to an international arrest warrant for Assad, the French judiciary last November also issued arrest warrants for his brother Maher Assad, commander of the 4th Armored Division; and two Syrian generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan, for alleged complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The crimes include a 2013 chemical attack in the then opposition-controlled suburbs of Damascus. Victims of the attack said France’s decision to issue the orders serves as a reminder of the horrors of The Syrian civil war.
The arrest warrants against the president’s brother and the two generals are not affected by the appeal.
The four men – the two Assad brothers and the two generals – may be arrested and taken to France for questioning as the investigation into the 2013 attacks in Eastern Ghouta and Douma continues, the lawyers said.
While President Assad is unlikely to face trial in France, international warrants against a sitting world leader are very rare and send a strong message about his leadership at a time when some, especially Arab countries, have given him the welcome back to the diplomatic fold.
More than 1,000 people died and thousands were injured in the August 2013 attacks on Douma and Eastern Ghouta.
The investigation into the attacks, carried out under universal jurisdiction in France by a special unit of the Paris Judicial Court, was opened in 2021, in response to a case brought by the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression on behalf of the survivors.
The Assad government was widely held responsible by the international community for the sarin gas attack in the Eastern Ghouta suburb of Damascus, then controlled by the opposition. The Syrian government and its allies denied responsibility and said the attack was carried out by opposition forces trying to push for foreign military intervention.
The United States threatened military retaliation after the attack, and then-President Barack Obama said Assad’s use of chemical weapons would be Washington’s “red line.” However, the American public and Congress were wary of a new war, as the invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq had become quagmires.
Washington reached an agreement with Moscow for Syria to give up its chemical weapons arsenal.
Syria says it eliminated its chemical arsenal under the 2013 deal. However, monitoring groups have continued to report chemical attacks by Syrian government forces since then.
In addition to France, complaints related to the chemical attacks in Eastern Ghouta in 2013 and Khan Shaykhun in 2017 were submitted to authorities in Germany in 2020 and Sweden in 2021, based on witness testimony, visual evidence and chain of command information. of entities suspected of carrying out the attacks.
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