New legal proceedings have been set in motion against Syria’s former president Bashar al-Assad, after France’s top court cleared the way for prosecution now that he no longer holds office.
French prosecutors have asked magistrates to issue a new arrest warrant for Syria’s former president Bashar al-Assad over a deadly 2013 chemical attack, following the annulment of a previous warrant due to presidential immunity.
The move comes after France’s top court, the Court of Cassation, last Friday quashed a 2023 warrant targeting Assad while he was still in power. The court ruled that heads of state are protected by personal immunity – even in cases involving alleged war crimes or crimes against humanity.
However, the court's president, Christophe Soulard, said that since Assad was toppled by Islamist-led fighters in December 2024, fresh arrest warrants may now be issued, and the investigation can proceed.
France’s highest court to rule on arrest warrant for ex-Syrian president Assad
French authorities have been investigating the sarin gas attacks on Adra and Douma, near Damascus, which took place on 4 to 5 August 2013.
More than 1,000 people were killed, according to US intelligence. Assad is accused of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the command structure behind the attack.
On Friday, the National Anti-Terror Prosecutor’s Office confirmed it had requested “the issuing and international dissemination” of a new warrant against Assad.
Assad and his family fled to Russia following his ouster, according to Russian officials.
Setback for accountability
The Court of Cassation’s ruling on Friday has drawn criticism from human rights advocates who had hoped the court would set a precedent by lifting immunity in the face of grave international crimes.
“This ruling represents a setback for the global fight against impunity for the most serious crimes under international law,” said Mazen Darwish, head of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, which is a civil party in the case.
Still, the court did uphold indictments in related cases under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows French courts to prosecute serious international crimes committed abroad.
In particular, the court backed legal action against former Syrian central bank governor Adib Mayaleh, accused of funding the Assad regime during the conflict.
Mayaleh, a naturalised French citizen, is charged with complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Darwish welcomed this element of the ruling as a “great victory,” stating it reinforces that no foreign official can hide behind immunity in cases of international crimes.
France's top court annuls arrest warrant against Syria's Assad
Broader legal efforts
The French inquiry into the 2013 attack is based on testimonies from survivors, defectors, and extensive photographic and video evidence.
Arrest warrants have previously been issued for Assad, his brother Maher – commander of an elite military unit – and two generals.
In January, French magistrates issued a separate arrest warrant against Assad over a 2017 bombing in Deraa that killed a French-Syrian civilian.
Syria’s civil war, triggered by a brutal crackdown on anti-Assad protests in 2011, has left over half a million people dead and displaced millions.
Assad’s fall marked the end of his family’s five-decade rule.
