French court confirms arrest warrant against Syria’s Assad

PARIS, France (AFP) — Paris judges on Wednesday confirmed a French arrest warrant for Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad over alleged complicity in crimes against humanity for 2013 chemical attacks, the plaintiffs’ lawyers said.

The Paris appeals court found Assad could be sought over deadly August 2013 attacks on Syrian soil with chemical weapons.

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

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

They did not aim to “question the existence of evidence demonstrating Bashar al-Assad’s complicity in the chemical attacks,” they said.

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

The Syrian opposition hailed the move on Wednesday.

“The victims’ families... appreciate these efforts, which provide them with moral support and apply additional pressure on the Assad regime, another step in getting justice for the Syrian people,” the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition forces said in a statement.