French court annuls Assad arrest warrant over ‘presidential immunity’ defense

Human rights advocates had hoped the court would create an exception to immunity rules, given the severity of chemical weapons allegations.

By Jewish Breaking News

France’s highest court has thrown out an arrest warrant targeting former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

On Friday, Paris’s Court of Cassation determined that Assad enjoyed full presidential immunity when French authorities issued the warrant in November 2023, making the arrest order invalid under international law.

However, presiding judge Christophe Soulard noted that new arrest warrants can be issued against the former Syrian tyrant now that he no longer holds office.

French magistrates issued the original warrant after probing chemical weapons attacks that occurred in Syria during August 2013.

Intelligence assessments concluded that sarin gas strikes on August 4 and 5 killed more than 1,000 people in Adra and Douma outside Damascus.

Investigators built their case using testimonies from survivors and military defectors, along with photographic and video evidence.

French prosecutors had challenged the warrant from the start, arguing Assad deserved immunity as a head of state.

But Paris Court of Appeal judges upheld the arrest order in June 2024, prompting prosecutors to appeal again to the nation’s highest court.

“International custom does not allow any exception to the personal immunity of a foreign head of state during the entire duration of their term in office, even when the alleged acts constitute genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity,” the Court of Cassation wrote in their ruling..

Human rights advocates had hoped the court would create an exception to immunity rules, given the severity of chemical weapons allegations.

Assad’s fortunes reversed catastrophically in December during a rebel offensive that demolished his government in just 11 days. Islamist-led forces launched coordinated attacks across multiple fronts, rapidly seizing territory as demoralized government soldiers surrendered or fled.

The stunning military collapse forced Assad to abandon Syria for Russian exile, terminating the Assad family’s authoritarian rule that had dominated the country since Bashar’s father established the dynasty in 1970.

Since Assad’s ouster, French investigating magistrates issued a second arrest warrant in January targeting him for war crimes.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Assad’s campaign of slaughter claimed over half a million lives, including more than 25,000 children.