The French judicial authorities issued an arrest warrant yesterday for the ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad for alleged complicity in war crimes, related in particular to the death of a Frenchman of Syrian origin in 2017, reported the newspaper "Parisien", quoted by BTA.
Investigators suspect the former Syrian president of complicity in murders and attacks on civilians.
According to the newspaper "Parisien", the 59-year-old man was killed when his house in the southern Syrian city of Daraa was bombed by Syrian army helicopters in June 2017. Citing investigators, the newspaper wrote that according to French judicial authorities, Bashar al-Assad ordered the attack and provided the necessary funds for it. At the time, Assad's government was trying to regain control of the city from opposition rebel forces.
In 2023, French judicial authorities issued the first arrest warrant for Assad in connection with chemical weapons attacks. This specifically concerns major chemical weapons attacks in the Eastern Ghouta region near Damascus in August 2013. Hundreds of people were killed in the attack with the nerve gas sarin at that time. According to human rights organizations, the victims were more than 1,000 people.