Three Syrians punished with life imprisonment by French court in absentia for war crimes

Representation Pic

A Paris court has punished three highly ranked Syrians of life imprisonment on Friday in relation to a landmark case against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad and the first such case in Europe.

The trial focused on the officials' role in the alleged 2013 arrest in Damascus of Mazen Dabbagh, a Franco-Syrian father, and his son Patrick, and their subsequent torture and killing. The four-day trial featured harrowing testimonies from survivors and searing accounts from Mazen's brother. As France and Syria do not have any extradition treaty it has made the outcome largely symbolic.

International arrest warrant have been issued for the three former Syrian officials have been issued since 2018 to no avail. The names of these three highly ranked Syrian officials are Ali Mamlouk, Jamil Hassan, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud.

These officials will go on trials in a European court over crimes committed during the country's civil war.

The court proceedings came as Assad has started to shed his longtime status as a pariah that stemmed from the violence unleashed on his opponents. Human rights groups involved in the case hoped it would refocus attention on alleged atrocities.

"First recognition in France of the crimes against humanity of the Syrian regime.", said the Dabbagh family lawyer from the International Federation for Human Rights.

"It is a message of hope for all Syrian victims who are waiting for justice. It is a message that must be addressed to states so that they do not normalize their relations with the regime of Bashar al-Assad," she added.

The trail began on Tuesday over the killing of a French-Syrian father and son. They were arrested at the height of Arab spring-inspired anti-government protest. These two were arrested in Damascus after a crackdown on demonstrations that later turned into a brutal civil war, now in its 14th year.

The probe into their disappearance started in 2015 when Obeida Dabbagh, Mazen's brother, testified to investigators already examining war crimes in Syria.

Obeida Dabbagh and his wife, Hanane, both are parties to the trails along with other non-governmental organisations. They testified in court on Thursday, the third day of the trial.

Obeida Dabbagh said he hoped the trial would set a precedent for holding Assad accountable. "Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have died. Even today, some live in fear and terror," he said.

"It's very important that perpetrators from the regime side are held accountable, even if it's mainly symbolic. It means a lot for the fight against impunity," she added.