French Prosecutors Seek New Arrest Warrant against Bashar Assad
It is now up to investigating magistrates to decide whether to issue the new warrant.
French investigators have since 2021 been looking into a suspected Syrian government sarin gas attack that killed more than 1,000 people, according to US intelligence, on August 4 and 5, 2013, in the areas of Adra and Douma outside Damascus.
The Court of Cassation, France's highest court, on Friday ruled there were no exceptions to presidential immunity, even for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity, annulling a French warrant against Assad issued in 2023 when he was still leader.
It however added that, as Assad, who was toppled in December, was no longer president, new warrants could be issued and the French investigation could continue.
In November 2023, the French judiciary issued an arrest warrant against Assad on charges of complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes, in connection with the chemical attacks attributed to the Syrian government under his rule.
The French judiciary tackled the case under the principle of universal jurisdiction, whereby a court may prosecute individuals for serious crimes committed in other countries.
An investigation – based on testimonies of survivors and military defectors, as well as photos and video footage – led to warrants for the arrest of Assad, his brother Maher – then head of the Syrian army's fourth division – and two generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan.
Public prosecutors approved three of the warrants, but issued an appeal against the one targeting Assad, arguing he should have immunity as a head of state.
The Paris Court of Appeal in June last year however upheld it, and prosecutors again appealed.
Assad and his family fled to Russia, according to Russian authorities, after opposition fighters seized power on December 8.
Another French warrant is already out for Assad's arrest, issued in January for suspected complicity in war crimes for a bombing in the Syrian city of Daraa in 2017 that killed a French-Syrian civilian.
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