France issued an international arrest warrant against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for using chemical weapons against his country's people.
The arrest warrant came as a result of a criminal investigation - which began in 2021 - into the attacks carried out by the Syrian government - in 2013 - in Eastern Ghouta. More than 1,200 civilians were killed there.
French judges also issued arrest warrants against the brother of the Syrian president Maher al-Assad (current head of an elite Syrian military unit) and two other senior officials of his regime (generals of the armed forces). They are accused of - among other things - complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes, as reported by France24.
The Syrian regime denies the accusations
The investigation was opened after a complaint filed by the law association Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), the NGO Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) and the Syrian Archive (an organization that records and documents human rights violations in that country).
SCM President Mazen Darwish stated:
It is an enormous advance (...) An independent jurisdiction is recognizing that the chemical attack couldn't have happened without the knowledge of the Syrian president, that he has responsibility and should be held accountable.
The case against Assad and his accomplices was supported by testimonies from citizens who experienced the attacks firsthand. There was also a large number of activists who shared images on social media showing the repression and the disproportionate attack. Subsequently, a United Nations report confirmed that there was clear evidence that sarin gas was used on the population.
Other European countries such as Germany have filed complaints about the crimes committed by the Syrian regime against its population. However, despite the accusations, the Syrian regime denies the allegations.
