Switzerland’s Lawyer Common’s Workplace stated on Tuesday that it will put an uncle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on trial for warfare crimes and crimes towards humanity courting again to his time as a navy commander in 1982.
The workplace stated in an announcement that Rifaat al-Assad, 86, had been charged with “ordering homicides, acts of torture, merciless therapies and unlawful detentions” in February 1982 when he was in command of troops within the western metropolis of Hama.
Identified to critics because the “Butcher of Hama” for crushing an rebel within the metropolis, Assad, a former vp of the nation, commanded troops accused of killing 1000’s of individuals to quell an Islamist rebellion.
Assad, who was not instantly out there for remark, has denied duty for the Hama deaths. His legal professionals stated in an announcement on Tuesday: “Mr. Al-Assad has all the time denied any involvement within the acts of which he’s accused in these proceedings.”
In response to the Swiss prosecutors’ indictment, the battle between Syrian armed forces and their Islamist opponents triggered between 3,000 and 60,000 deaths in Hama. Most of those deaths have been civilians.
Exiled from Syria
Rifaat al-Assad lived in exile, largely in France, from the mid-Eighties, after being accused of making an attempt to topple his brother, then-President Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father.
He returned to Syria in 2021, escaping jail in France the place he was discovered responsible of buying thousands and thousands of euros of property utilizing funds diverted from the Syrian state.
The Lawyer Common’s Workplace initiated warfare crimes proceedings towards Assad in December 2013 below the precept of common jurisdiction and non-applicability of statutory limitations to warfare crimes.
Police established that Assad was current in Swiss territory when the investigation was initiated. A number of victims filed civil complaints throughout the workplace’s prison continuing.
In response to the Swiss Prison Process Code, within the absence of the defendant, a trial in absentia is feasible below sure situations.
