French court to try 3 senior Syrian security officials for war crimes
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – French court will try three Syrian security officials in absentia for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the spring of 2024 in Paris.
The Paris Criminal Court will try Ali Mamlouk, Jamil Hassan, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud on May 21, 2024 in a trial that will last for four days after a dual citizen, Obeida Dabbagh, filed a complaint to investigate the death of his brother Mazzen and his nephew Patrick in detention in Syrian prisons.
The trial will take place in France because Mazzen and his son Patrick held French and Syrian citizenship. Even though they were not involved in the protests in 2011 in Syria, they were detained by Syrian government forces during their crackdown against protestors.
The three accused men who held senior positions in the Air Force Intelligence, affiliated with the government forces are sanctioned by the EU and considered involved in the crackdown against civilians and arbitrary arrests, such as those of Mazzen and Patrick.
French judges involved in the case heard the testimonies of 23 Syrians who had survived detention and described routine torture and a high mortality rate in the same detention center.
In 2018, the Syrian government issued a large number of death certificates for people who had died in detention over the years, including Patrick and Mazzen.
Patrick died on Jan. 21, 2014, and Mazzen on Nov. 25, 2017, aged 20 and 61 at the time of death.
This led French prosecutors to issue international arrest warrants for the three men in Nov. 2018.