An arrest warrant issued for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the use of banned chemical weapons against civilians was upheld by a Paris court on Wednesday, one of the lawyers who lodged the initial case said. The warrant issued by French judges in November 2023 refers to charges of complicity in crimes against humanity and complicity in war crimes, followed a French investigation into chemical attacks in Douma and the district of Eastern Ghouta in August 2013, attacks which killed more than 1,000 people. Arrest warrants for sitting heads of state are rare because they generally have immunity from prosecution. However, international law has exceptions to that immunity when a head of state is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity or genocide. France is among the countries that allows the filing of crimes against humanity cases in its courts. For a deeper perspective on this historic ruling, FRANCE 24's Mark Owen is joined by Mazen Darwish, human rights lawyer, founder and General Director of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, Secretary General of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).
