In the first trial in France relating to the crimes of the Bashar al-Assad regime, the maximum sentence, life imprisonment, was pronounced by the Paris Assize Court against three senior executives of the intelligence services. Tried in their absence, Generals Ali Mamlouk and Jamil Hassan, and Brigadier General Abdel Salam Mahmoud, were found guilty of complicity in crimes against humanity against a Franco-Syrian father and son.
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It was in a very solemn and emotional silence that the room listened to the verdict: the sentencing of the three accused to life imprisonment for complicity in crimes against humanity for their role in the imprisonment , torture, forced disappearance and death of Mazzen and Patrick Dabbagh. Defendants also found guilty of complicity in war crimes for their participation in the spoliation of Mazzen Dabbagh’s property.
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As soon as the judges had left, applause rang out to greet this decision, and the civil parties, in tears, hugged each other. Many Syrians were present, so much so that not all of them were able to enter the room. And it was with new rounds of applause that they welcomed the exit of Obeida Dabbagh, the brother and uncle of the victims, very moved, who fought for ten years for this trial to take place.
“ It’s a verdict I’ve been waiting for, rejoices Obeida Dabbagh. It is a historic trial which will set a precedent for other cases later, I hope, especially in Syria, once the dictatorship is eliminated and all those responsible for the various security services are convicted. I hope that this conviction will be carried out in Syria because impunity is very hard to live with. Justice must take place and this is an important first step (…) It is a victory as I began the process practically on the day of my brother’s disappearance. I’ve been following this business for ten years. So, I am very satisfied. »
Prove the regime’s abuses
Obeida Dabbahg now hopes that all Syrians who have lost something and other victims will feel today’s verdict as a victory for them too. “ It is a historic trial, anything but symbolic, because it was marked by numerous testimonies and the public exhibition, for the first time in France, of the evidence collected to prove the abuses of this regime, decided and orchestrated at the highest level. state level » reacted Me Clémence Bectarte, lawyer for the civil parties.
If the accused are ever arrested, they will be able to acquiesce in this sentence or oppose it. In the latter case, today’s verdict would then become void and there would be a new trial.
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