Local sources from France: Le Figaro, Le Parisien.
UK coverage: The Guardian.
In a historic trial in France, three high-ranking Syrian officials have been found guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes. Ali Mamlouk, head of the Syrian secret services, Jamil Hassan, former head of the Syrian air force intelligence unit, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud, intelligence director at the Mezzeh detention centre, were sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment. This trial marks a significant milestone in international justice, as it is the first time that high-ranking figures close to Bashar al-Assad have been held accountable.
The trial, which began on Tuesday in Paris, focuses on the deaths of two Franco-Syrians, Mazzen Dabbagh and his son Patrick. Mazzen, a senior education advisor at the French school in Damascus, and his son, a second-year student at the University of Damascus, were arrested in 2013, brutally tortured, and held in inhumane conditions. Patrick reportedly died in 2014, while his father’s fate remains unknown.
The trial proceedings, scheduled to conclude on May 24, are being conducted in absentia, as the defendants are not present in the courtroom. Ali Mamlouk, Jamil Hassan, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud face potential life sentences for their complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The trial has garnered significant attention, not only for its legal implications but also for the evidence presented. Satellite images of mass graves around military bases in Damascus have been shown, indicating the scale of torture and killings carried out by the Syrian regime. These images, extracted from the ‘Caesar’ file, were smuggled out of Syria in 2013 by a former military policeman and reveal the horrifying extent of the atrocities committed.
The head of the Near East group at the Central Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity spoke at the trial, describing the daily routine of detainees carrying the bodies of those who had died in trucks. She emphasized that the mass graves have expanded over the years, providing further evidence of the systematic nature of the torture and killings.
The verdicts in this trial send a strong message about the importance of international justice and provide hope for the families of Syrians who have suffered under the Assad regime. While the defendants may not be physically present in the courtroom, this trial marks a significant step towards accountability for the crimes committed in Syria.
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