The Paris Court of Appeals validated this Wednesday (26) an arrest warrant against the Syrian dictator, Bashar al Assad, who is thus deprived of his immunity as head of state for his responsibility in several chemical weapons attacks in 2013. , and which is valid throughout the European Union (EU).
The decision was considered “historic” by the lawyers responsible for the private prosecution, who in statements to the press highlighted that it was the first time that a national jurisdiction recognized that the personal immunity of an acting head of state is not absolute.
The lawyers, who did not want to comment on the content of the resolution because they have not yet had time to examine the arguments, stressed throughout the case that it is a matter of certifying the validity of the order issued by a French court of inquiry last November.
In practice, according to Clémence Witt, one of the jurists responsible for the accusation, this means that Assad must be detained if he enters any of the European Union countries.
Witt recalled that, in principle, “European warrants” are almost automatic, although in practice the country in question can carry out a formal examination before handing over a person claimed by another EU State.
The lawyer also said that this French arrest warrant could also be used by other non-European countries.
The private prosecution also highlighted that the validation of the arrest warrant also means that Assad will be tried, and this could be organized even if he is not present.
The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office had asked the Investigative Chamber of the Paris Court of Appeals to annul the arrest warrant, claiming that the immunity of a sitting head of state can only be lifted by procedures of international jurisdictions, such as those of the International Criminal Court. (TPI), and not from national bodies.
In this process, which at the moment is the only one in which it is considered that he cannot assert this immunity in France, Assad is accused of being an accomplice in crimes against humanity due to the sarin gas attacks in several Syrian cities in August 2013 which, according to the American secret services, they caused more than a thousand deaths.
The Syrian dictator’s brother, Maher, as head of an elite army unit, and two generals were also indicted. The difference is that none of these three could count on presidential immunity.
The attacks were carried out as part of the Assad regime’s crackdown on protests against it that began in 2011 and led to a civil war that has since left hundreds of thousands dead and millions of people displaced within and outside the country.
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