Swiss judiciary considers dropping proceedings against Assad uncle
Published: Sunday, Dec 15th 2024, 16:10
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According to media reports, the Federal Criminal Court is considering dropping the case against an uncle of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Rifaat al-Assad has been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity in Switzerland since March.
After eleven years of investigations, the Federal Criminal Court is planning to discontinue the proceedings, reported the Sonntagszeitung newspaper and the AFP news agency, citing different sources. The court had informed the co-plaintiffs of its intention at the end of November. According to the report, the 87-year-old defendant is suffering from illnesses that would prevent him from traveling and participating in the trial.
The Office of the Attorney General accused the then commander of the defense brigades of "ordering murders, torture, cruel treatment and illegal detentions" during the 1982 attack on the Syrian city of Hama. The massacre, in which between 10,000 and 40,000 people were killed, earned Rifaat al-Assad the nickname "Butcher of Hama".
The criminal proceedings were initiated in 2013 following a complaint by the NGO Trial International, which was contacted by Syrians living in Geneva.
Trial legal advisor Benoit Meystre confirmed to AFP that the case would be dropped, but emphasized that the final decision was still pending. Victims' lawyer Mahault Frei de Clavière sharply criticized the development in the "Sonntagszeitung": "The massacre has haunted the survivors for 42 years, the indictment gave hope for justice."
Rifaat al-Assad returned to Syria in 2021 after 37 years in exile in France to avoid a prison sentence for money laundering and embezzlement. He had left Syria in 1984 after a failed coup attempt against his brother Hafez. According to reports, he traveled to Lebanon after the fall of Bashar.
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