AFP: Assad Will more likely remain president until his death!
AFP said that the Syrian president Bashar al Assad could remain president until his death.
AFP was discussing the story detailing the French judicial decision on an arrest warrant against Assad in a case of chemical attacks.
Speaking about the reasons and details of the decision, AFP said, “Syria isn’t a member of the International Criminal Court, and it is possible that Bashar al Assad, who succeeded his father Hafez in 2000, will remain president until his death”.
In theory, there is at least for now no justification for Assad to remain president until his death, as this is his second constitutional term, according to Syrian constitution amended in 2012, and he isn’t entitled to any additional mandate.
Assad’s current term expires in 2028, and it’s not yet known whether he will amend the constitution and give himself new mandates, or prepare his son to be his successor.
It’s worth mentioning that Paris Court of Appeal on Wednesday upheld or revoked the French arrest warrant for the Syrian president accused of complicity in crimes against humanity.
On 15 May, the Investigation Chamber considered the request of the Office of the National Counter-Terrorism Prosecutor of France to revoke this memorandum in the name of the personal immunity enjoyed by heads of State in their office before foreign courts.
Since 2021, investigative judges from the Crimes against Humanity Unit of the Paris Judicial Court have been investigating the chain of command that led to chemical attacks on the night of 4-5 August 2013 in Adra and Douma near Damascus (450 injured), and on 21 August 2013 in Eastern Ghouta, killing more than a thousand people, according to US intelligence.
Their investigations led to the issuance of four arrest warrants in November 2023 for complicity in crimes against humanity and complicity in “war crimes”.
In addition to Assad, the arrest warrants target his brother Maher, the de facto commander of the Syrian army’s Fourth Division, and two other brigadier generals: Ghassan Abbas, director of Branch 450 of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center, and Bassam al Hassan, presidential adviser for strategic affairs and liaison officer between the presidential palace and the Scientific Research Center.
Several sources familiar with the file confirm that this is the first arrest warrant issued by a foreign court against a sitting head of state.
The investigating judges have put forward firm arguments highlighting the conditions under which a foreign country can lift the personal immunity of another head of state in order to open an additional door to the fight against crimes against humanity, according to a source who told AFP.
The National Counter-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to AFP ahead of the hearing that unanimously, so far it considers that exceptions to lifting the immunity of heads of state in office are only for the benefit of international tribunals such as the International Criminal Court.
“Without questioning the existence of elements proving Assad’s involvement in the chemical attacks committed in August 2013,” the National Counter-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office “wanted to see a Supreme Court decide on this matter”, he said.
