PARIS (AP) 鈥� A Paris court sentenced three high-ranking Syrian officials in absentia to life in prison Friday for complicity in war crimes in a landmark case against the regime of Syrian President and the first such case in Europe.
The trial focused on the officials鈥� role in the alleged 2013 arrest in Damascus of Mazen Dabbagh, a Franco-Syrian father, and his son Patrick, and their subsequent torture and killing. The four-day trial featured harrowing testimonies from survivors and searing accounts from Mazen鈥檚 brother.
Though the verdict was cathartic for plaintiffs, France and Syria do not have an extradition treaty, making the outcome largely symbolic. International arrest warrants for the three former Syrian intelligence officials 鈥� Ali Mamlouk, Jamil Hassan, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud 鈥� have been issued since 2018 to no avail.
They are the most senior Syrian officials to go on trial in a European court over crimes allegedly committed during the country鈥檚 civil war.
The court proceedings came as has started to shed his longtime status as a unleashed on his opponents. Human rights groups involved in the case hoped it would refocus attention on alleged atrocities.
Cl茅mence Bectarte, the Dabbagh family lawyer from the International Federation for Human Rights, said the verdict was the 鈥渇irst recognition in France of the crimes against humanity of the Syrian regime.鈥�
鈥淚t is a message of hope for all Syrian victims who are waiting for justice. It is a message that must be addressed to states so that they do not normalize their relations with the regime of Bashar al-Assad,鈥� she said.
The trial began Tuesday over the alleged torture and killing of the French-Syrian father and son who were arrested at the height of Arab Spring-inspired anti-government protests. The two were arrested in Damascus following a crackdown on demonstrations that later turned into a brutal civil war, now in its 14th year.
The probe into their disappearance started in 2015 when Obeida Dabbagh, Mazen鈥檚 brother, testified to investigators already examining war crimes in Syria.
Obeida Dabbagh and his wife, Hanane, are parties to the trial along with non-governmental organizations. They testified in court on Thursday, the third day of the trial.
Obeida Dabbagh said he hoped the trial would set a precedent for holding Assad accountable. 鈥淗undreds of thousands of Syrians have died. Even today, some live in fear and terror," he said.
Despite the defendants鈥� absence, the trial鈥檚 significance was underscored by Brigitte Herremans, a senior researcher at the Human Rights Centre of Ghent University. 鈥淚t鈥檚 very important that perpetrators from the regime side are held accountable, even if it鈥檚 mainly symbolic. It means a lot for the fight against impunity,鈥� she said.
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Masha Macpherson and Oleg Cetinic contributed from Paris
The Associated Press
