Paris judges confirm arrest warrant for Assad over 2013 chemical attacks

Paris judges confirmed a French arrest warrant for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday, alleging his complicity in crimes against humanity related to the 2013 chemical attacks on Syrian soil.

"This is a historic decision. It's the first time a national court has recognised that a sitting head of state does not have total personal immunity for their actions,"  lawyers for the plaintiffs, Clemence Bectarte, Jeanne Sulzer, and Clemence Witt, said.

Prosecutors from a unit specialised in investigating terrorist attacks had attempted to annul the warrant, arguing that immunity for foreign heads of state should only be lifted for international prosecutions, such as those before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

They clarified that they did not aim to "question the existence of evidence demonstrating Bashar al-Assad's complicity in the chemical attacks".

No immunity

France is believed to be the first country to issue an arrest warrant for a sitting foreign head of state.

The decision was hailed as "great news" and "a new victory for the victims," according to Mazen Darwish, a lawyer for the International Human Rights League (FIDH), who posted on X, "There is no immunity in this type of crime."

The anti-terrorist prosecutors may still appeal the judgment to France's highest court, the Court of Cassation.

Chemical attacks

The arrest warrant, initially issued in mid-November at the request of investigative magistrates specialising in crimes against humanity, calls for Assad to be detained for his role in the chain of command for attacks on Adra and Douma on 4-5 August, 2013, and East Ghouta on 21 August.

The first attack injured around 450 people, while American intelligence reported that more than 1,000 were killed with sarin nerve gas in East Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus.

Alongside Assad, the warrants target his brother, Maher, then head of the Syrian army's fourth division, and two generals, Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan. The anti-terror prosecutors contested only the warrant for Bashar al-Assad's arrest.

The investigation by France's OCLCH crimes against humanity unit is based on photos, videos and maps supplied by plaintiffs, and testimony from survivors and former military personnel.

Soon after the attacks, Syria agreed to join the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and has denied subsequent allegations of continuing to use chemical weapons.

It had its OPCW voting rights suspended in 2021 following poison gas attacks on civilians in 2017.

The Syrian civil war began in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests, escalating into a deadly conflict involving foreign powers and global jihadist groups. The war has left more than half a million people dead and displaced half of the country's pre-war population.

(with newswires)