French prosecutors on Tuesday asked the Court of Cassation, the highest court in France, to weigh in on the validity of an international arrest warrant against Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Assad is accused of being complicit in war crimes committed during the civil war in Syria, although prosecutors are asserting that Assad, as a head of state, should have complete immunity.
Appeals court judges last week ruled that the arrest warrant is valid and that it remains in force. Lawyers of victims say the ruling by the appeals court was a “giant step forward in the fight against impunity.”
The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, along with a lawyers' group known as the Open Society Justice Initiative and the Syrian Archive, were involved in the initial complaint against the president.
According to the prosecutors’ appeal, it is “necessary from a legal point of view” to consider personal immunity as head of state in relation to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The prosecutors have said that immunity for foreign heads of state should only be superseded by international prosecution, including the International Criminal Court.
"The challenge at France's supreme court by the Public Prosecutor's Office threatens once more the victims' relentless efforts to see Bashar Assad finally tried before an independent court," said Jeanne Sulzer and Clemence Witt in a statement. Sulzer and Witt are lawyers at the Paris Bar.
While Assad will likely not see trial in France, an arrest warrant for a world leader is rare. France is thought to be the first country to issue an arrest warrant for a sitting foreign head of state.
The French judiciary also has arrest warrants out for Maher Assad, his brother, and several others.
The war crimes in question include a 2013 chemical attack on Damascus suburbs then held by the opposition. More than 1,000 people were killed, while thousands more were injured.
After the attack, Washington and Moscow made a deal for Syria to forfeit its chemical weapons. Watchdog groups allege that Syria has continued staging chemical attacks.
The civil war in Syria killed upwards of a million people and displaced millions of others since it began in 2011.
The Court of Cassation’s decision will be the final ruling.
The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse provided information for this report.
