A court in Paris has issued a new arrest warrant for Syria’s deposed leader, Bashar al-Assad, accusing him of complicity in war crimes relating to a deadly barrel bomb attack on civilians in 2017.
The warrant stems from the tragic bombing that claimed the life of Salah Abou Nabout, a French-Syrian man, when his home was struck during an attack on the southern city of Daraa on June 7, 2017.
According to a legal source familiar with the ongoing case, the Paris Tribunal’s special unit for crimes against humanity and war crimes issued the warrant this week. The court holds al-Assad responsible for the attack in his capacity as “commander-in-chief of the armed forces,” the source noted.
The investigation into Nabout’s death began in 2018, leading French judges to issue arrest warrants for six senior officials of the Syrian army, whom they believe acted on al-Assad’s orders and were complicit in the war crimes associated with the bombing. This newly issued warrant marks the second time al-Assad has been targeted by French justice authorities, following a prior mandate issued in November 2023. That earlier warrant was related to chemical attacks in Douma and the Eastern Ghouta region in 2013, which resulted in the deaths of over 1,000 civilians.
Al-Assad’s regime has consistently denied accusations of using chemical weapons or barrel bombs, asserting that it has not conducted indiscriminate attacks on civilians throughout the nearly 14-year-long civil war.
In a related development, the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, visited Damascus last week to meet with Syria’s de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa. Khan’s visit, which was initiated by the transitional government, was intended to support Syrian authorities in their endeavors to achieve accountability for alleged crimes committed within the country.
In recent years, several European nations— including France, Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands—have initiated legal proceedings against Syrian officials and anti-government fighters accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, highlighting the international community’s ongoing efforts to address the atrocities committed during the Syrian conflict.
