“The Warranty stood out France towards Bashar al-Assad It’s a historic achievement.” He is thrilled Anwar al Bunni, Syrian lawyer reached by phone by Ilfattoquotidiano.it. “The President of the Syrian Republic is accused Crimes against humanityit is now politically done and will not be able to take part in any political transition process,” explains Al Bunni, who has been committed to defending human rights for years. From that Germanywhere he lives became famous in 2020 because it led to a prosecution in the German court Koblenz two Syrian refugees, Anwar Raslan And Eyad Al-Gharibboth members of the secret service of Damascus and accused Crimes against humanity. The trial, which ended in 2022, resulted in a life sentence for Raslan and four years for Gharib.
“French law – explains Bunni to Ilfattoquotidiano.it – allows this Conviction in absentiaas happened last year Ali Mamluq And Jamil Hassan“, accused in a trial organized by a Paris court over the deaths of two citizens with dual citizenship, a Frenchman and a Syrian, who were tortured to death in regime prisons. “Now Assad and those convicted with him, he won’t have it Freedom of movement because the arrest warrant will be sent to himInterpol which will extend it to the entire European soil.
The verdict of the French justice system that called for the arrest of the Syrian president and his brother Mower and two other members of the Syrian authorities comes after years of French judges examining evidence and hearing witnesses. The accusation is that they are responsiblechemical attack against civilians Ghoutaa suburb on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, which occurred in 2013 and in which, according to various sources About a thousand civilians were killed.
At the time of the events, the Syrian government and the rebel groups that then controlled the affected area launched a Exchange of accusations. The United Statesled by the administration ObamaThey raised the possibility of military intervention in Syria against President Assad, but this was achieved thanks to the Russian mediationto a plan for dismantling Sarin gas storage facilities controlled by the Syrian government, but without receiving an admission of responsibility for the attack from the authorities in Damascus.
Since 2013, the debate over who used chemical weapons has resurfaced several times. While there seemed to be no justice for the victims’ families: “In the fight against impunity, this is a death penalty,” analyzes the Lebanese political scientist Ziad Majed, professor at the American University of Paris, in conversation with Ilfattoquotidiano.it. “ Syrians are no longer invisible before the judiciary. Now there is a precedent that will be important for all struggles in the name of freedom.”
Majed has no illusions that Assad could actually end up in handcuffs. “It is very difficult to arrest these people when they are in power because they enjoy international protection.” And he adds: “However, it is the beginning of the institutionalization of a process in the.” Fight against criminals and impunity in Syria.”
The work of the French judges began in March 2021 after a series of statements from survivors of the massacre who subsequently sought refuge in Europe. In addition to Assad and his brother Maher, who have been at the head of the country’s elite troops in the war for more than twelve years, arrest warrants have also been issued against the general Ghassan Abbasin 2013 Head of Department No. 450 of the Syrian Center for Scientific Studies and Research (Cssrs) and for General Bassam Hassanat that time advisor for strategic affairs and liaison officer between the Presidential Palace and the CSSR.
In the Middle East, Majed adds, “many people feel excluded from the protection of the law and the international community.” The result achieved for the Syrians must help us bring them before the judges too Palestinians and Israelis“. In this sense, he concludes, “we cannot have double standards; we must always support the fight against impunity.”