France begins trying 3 top Syrian officials in absentia for complicity in war crimes

By Nur Asena Erturk

France on Tuesday started trying three top Syrian officials in absentia for complicity in war crimes, according to media reports.

The trial started in Paris and will end on Friday, the broadcaster France info said.

It is considered a historical trial for being the first one in its genre since the outbreak of the conflict in Syria in 2011, with top officials being tried, broadcaster France 24 noted.

The trial began in the Paris Criminal Court for the deaths of two French-Syrian men: Mazzen Dabbagh, who was an education counselor at the Charles-de-Gaulle High School in Damascus, was killed in 2017, while his son Patrick, a 19-year-old psychology student, was killed in 2014, media outlets reported.

Mazzen’s brother Obeida Dabbagh has fought for justice since their disappearance, France 24 added. The father and his son were declared dead in 2018.

The court will try in absentia the former chief of the National Security Bureau, Ali Mamlouk, the former director of the Air Force intelligence service, Jamil Hassan, and the former head of investigations, Abdel Salam Mahmoud.