A French court upheld an arrest warrant for Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, accusing him of complicity in the 2013 chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta.
The Paris Court of Appeal rejected a motion by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) to cancel the warrant, which argued that Assad enjoyed judicial immunity.
Prohibiting the use of chemical weapons is part of customary international law as a mandatory rule, and the international crimes that the judges are looking at cannot be considered as being part of the official duties of a head of state. They can thus be separated from the sovereignty naturally attached to these duties.
The case will now return to the investigating judges and the prosecution will have five days to appeal to the Court of Cassation. An arrest warrant was issued against the Syrian president in November 2023 on charges of complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes related to the 2013 chemical attack.
Assad’s brother, Maher al-Assad, commander of the Fourth Division of the Syrian Army, also faces an arrest warrant.
On 21 August 2013, the Syrian government used chemical weapons in Eastern Ghouta, killing more than 1,400 people. In 2018, Eastern Ghouta experienced the Syrian government’s tightest siege and most widespread use of weapons. The opposition was forced to evacuate in April 2018 under an agreement with Damascus and Russia.
