Bashar Assad’s uncle to stand trial in Swiss court for war crimes charges

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) - Syrian President Bashar Assad’s uncle, Rifaat Al-Assad, who is the former senior army commander and vice-president, will stand trial for war crimes charges, the Swiss Federal Criminal Court said Tuesday.

“The accused is charged with ordering homicides, acts of torture, cruel treatments and illegal detentions in Syria in February 1982, in his capacity as commander of the defence brigades (Saraya al Difaa) and commander of operations in Hama, within the context of the armed conflict and the widespread and systematic attack launched against the population of the city of Hama,” the court said in a statement.

After launching a failed coup against his older brother, Hafez al-Assad, in 1984, the younger al-Assad lived in exile in France for 36 years. He returned to Syria in October 2021 after he was found guilty in France of acquiring millions of euros diverted from the Syrian state.

Switzerland issued an international arrest warrant last August for al-Assad after the Federal Criminal Court demanded his extradition to prosecute for his role in supervising ground operations in the Hama Massacre.

The warrant was issued as part of the proceedings related to a war crimes complaint filed in 2013 by the TRAIL International human rights organization at the Swiss Office of the Attorney General.