"A French court has issued arrest warrants for seven former top Syrian officials, including ex-President Bashar al-Assad, for the bombing of a press centre in Homs, a judicial source and a human rights organisation said. A rocket hit the informal press centre on February 22, 2012, killing renowned US journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik and injuring two other journalists and an interpreter."
"The judicial investigation clearly established that the attack on the informal press centre in Bab Amr was part of the Syrian regime's explicit intention to target foreign journalists in order to limit media coverage of its crimes and force them to leave the city and the country, said Mazen Darwish, a lawyer and the general director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression, in a statement."
"Besides al-Assad, who fled to Russia in December 2024 when opposition fighters seized control of Syria, warrants have also been issued against his brother Maher al-Assad, who was the de facto head of the 4th Syrian armoured division at the time, intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, and then-army chief of staff Ali Ayoub, among others. France allows the filing of crimes against humanity cases in its courts."
French courts issued arrest warrants for seven former senior Syrian officials, including ex-President Bashar al-Assad, over the 2012 bombing of an informal press centre in Homs. The attack on February 22, 2012, killed US journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik and wounded other reporters and an interpreter. Warrants name Maher al-Assad, intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk, then-army chief Ali Ayoub and others. France permits crimes-against-humanity cases in its courts. The judicial investigation found the attack deliberately targeted foreign journalists to limit coverage and force them to leave. Human-rights groups and victims' families welcomed the warrants as a step toward a French trial for war crimes.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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