French court confirms arrest warrant against Bashar Assad

Syrian president Bashar al-Assad attending an emergency meeting of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in Riyadh. (Photo by SAUDI PRESS AGENCY / AFP)

ALBAWABA - The French top appeal court confirmed the ruling on issuing an arrest warrant against Syrian President Bashar Assad on the validity of alleged complicity in crimes and humanity and war crimes.

Earlier in 2023, judges sought the arrest of Assad, along with three other Syrian officials, over a deadly chemical weapons attack in Syria in 2013, accusations which the Syrian president denied.

The team of lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the initial complaint welcomed the decision to reject Assad's argument, in which he denied the war crimes allegations before the Court of Appeal in Paris.

Clemence Bectarte, Jeanne Sulzer, and Clemence said "It's the first time a national court has recognized that a sitting head of state does not have total personal immunity,".

Some prosecutors questioned the validity of the arrest warrant, saying that Assad holds immunity as a sitting foreign head of state.

However, international law provides exceptions to such protection when a head of state is accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide. France is one of the countries that allows for the filing of crimes against humanity cases in its courts.

Syrian ICJ commitioner Mazen Darwish took to x to hail what he deemed a great win for humanity and the rights of those affected by the brutal war in Syria.

"There is no immunity in this type of crime. Yes, We won." Darwish posted.

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