French authorities have issued, on Wednesday, an arrest warrant for former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, accusing him of « complicity in war crimes, » specifically the death of a Franco-Syrian man in Daraa, Syria, in 2017.
According to investigators, the man, aged 59, was killed when Syrian army helicopters bombed his home in June 2017. The French judiciary suspects Assad ordered the attack and provided the necessary resources to carry it out, as part of efforts to retake Daraa from opposition forces.
This is not the first warrant issued against Assad by French courts. In 2023, he was targeted for alleged involvement in chemical weapon attacks, including the 2013 Ghouta chemical assault near Damascus.
