Newsletters
French judicial authorities have issued arrest warrants for former Syrian President Bashar Assad and six other former senior officials in connection with the 2012 killing of journalists in Homs, Syria, according to the International Federation for Human Rights.
The warrants target Assad and his associates for alleged complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity related to an attack on an informal press center in the Bab Amr district of Homs in February 2012. The assault killed or wounded several journalists, including French photographer Remi Ochlik, French reporter Edith Bouvier, American-British correspondent Marie Colvin, British photographer Paul Conroy and Syrian interpreter Wael al-Oma.
"Investigating judges of the French War Crimes Unit have issued arrest warrants for seven former senior Syrian officials, including fallen President Bashar al-Assad," the rights organization said Tuesday.
The French judicial investigation determined that the attack on the press center was intentional, according to Mazen Darwish, director general of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression. Darwish said the investigation established the assault was part of the "Syrian regime's explicit intention to target foreign journalists in order to limit media coverage of its crimes and force them to leave the city and the country."
The 2012 attack occurred during the early stages of Syria's civil war as government forces sought to retake rebel-held areas of Homs. The makeshift press center had been established to allow international journalists to report on the siege of the city.
Clemence Bectarte, a lawyer representing the International Federation for Human Rights, described the move as significant progress toward accountability.
"The issuance of these seven arrest warrants is a decisive step that paves the way for a trial in France for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Bashar al-Assad's regime against Rémi Ochlik and his fellow journalists who were in the informal press center in Bab Amr in February 2012," Bectarte said.
The warrants represent the latest legal action by French authorities against Syrian government officials. France has now issued 21 arrest warrants for senior Syrian officials overall, with three specifically targeting Assad.
Assad's government fell earlier this month following a rapid rebel offensive that ended his family's five-decade rule over Syria.
3 min read
