France has issued an international arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Paris considers him guilty of complicity in crimes against humanity through chemical attacks in the summer of 2013. This was reported by Le Parisien with reference to a judicial source.
The article notes that four arrest warrants have been issued, including for the Syrian president and three officials for complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes. These are chemical attacks committed in Syria with sarin gas, in particular, on August 21, 2013. Then, according to US intelligence, more than 1,000 people were killed in Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.
France, the EU, the US, and several other countries hold President Assad responsible for this crime. The Syrian government and its allies deny this accusation and claim that the chemical weapons were used by the opposition.
The investigation was launched after a lawsuit was filed by the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM).
The publication also recalled that more than half a million people have been killed in the Syrian conflict that began in 2011.
