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September 02, 2025 – France/Syria –
French judicial authorities have taken a decisive step against impunity by issuing European arrest warrants for seven senior former Syrian officials—including ex-president Bashar al‑Assad—in connection with the 2012 targeted bombing of a press center in Homs. This attack claimed the lives of prominent journalists Marie Colvin (American) and Rémi Ochlik (French), while seriously injuring others.
The investigative probe, initiated in 2012 and progressively strengthened over more than a decade, broadened its scope from murder and attempted murder to encompass war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit such crimes by 2025. RSF—the press freedom watchdog—is a civil party in the proceedings and has hailed the arrest warrants as a breakthrough in the long-standing fight against impunity. “The net is tightening around the highest leaders in Bashar al‑Assad’s now‑defunct regime,” stated Antoine Bernard of RSF.
French authorities invoked their legal provision for universal jurisdiction, enabling prosecutions of grave crimes regardless of where they occurred. The investigation confirms that the bombardment was not random but a deliberate attempt to eradicate independent media by expelling foreign journalists and silencing documentation of the regime’s violent actions.
Alongside Assad, the warrants name other high-ranking regime figures—including his brother Maher al‑Assad (commander of the 4th Armored Division at that time), intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, army chief of staff Ali Ayoub, and several senior security officials like Ghassan Bilal, Mohamed Dib Zaitoun, and Rafik Mahmoud Shahadah.
What makes this action especially significant is the absence of immunity. Since Assad is no longer a sitting head of state—having fled to Russia in late 2024—the legal pathway to prosecute him and others under French jurisdiction has opened.
The issuance of the arrest warrants marks a pivotal moment in international justice. It signals that even powerful leaders may face accountability for targeting journalists and reinforces the principle that no crime, especially against the press, should go unpunished.
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