French judges issue arrest warrant against Bashar al-Assad and his brother
French criminal investigative judges issued arrest warrants against the head of the Syrian regime, Bashar al-Assad, his brother Maher al-Assad, and two of his assistances over using banned chemical weapons against civilians in Ghouta in 2013.
The arrest warrants came after a criminal investigation conducted by a Specialized Unit for Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes affiliated to the Paris Judicial Court about the two chemical attacks in August.
The arrest warrants included the director of Branch 450 of the Center for Scientific Studies and Research in the Assad regime’s government, Brigadier General Ghassan Abbas, and Bashar al-Assad’s advisor for strategic affairs, Brigadier General Bassam al-Hasan, in addition to the liaison officer between the presidential palace and the Scientific Research Center.
It is noteworthy that Assad regime forces used sarin gas, also called nerve gas, against the residents of Eastern Ghouta and Moadamiyet al-Sham, resulting in the killing of more than 1,450 civilians, including women and children, on August 21, 2013.
The Assad regime forces committed the Ghouta massacre three days after international inspectors arrived in the capital, Damascus, and many international reports confirmed that high-ranking officers were behind the chemical attack that resulted in the death of hundreds of civilians.
