Rifaat al-Assad was referred to Swiss justice in March for war crimes.Keystone
Rifaat al-Assad is targeted by Swiss justice for crimes dating back to 1982. But we still need to know where he is and if he is alive.
More from “International”
“Many unknowns” still hover around former Syrian vice-president Rifaat al-Assad after the fall of the regime of his nephew Bashar al-Assad, according to the Geneva-based NGO Trial International. But the people’s need to find the man targeted by Swiss justice has increased in recent days, she said.
There still remain “a lot of unknowns”, because we still need to understand where Rifaat al-Assad is, Benoît Meystre, legal advisor at the NGO, told Keystone-ATS on Wednesday.
“He may have left the country, but it is also possible that he was arrested or even died”
If the court obtains proof that Bashar al-Assad’s uncle is dead, the ongoing proceedings in Switzerland would end. As it stands, the current situation has no impact on the procedure as such, according to Meystre.
Bloody repression
Rifaat al-Assad, nicknamed the “butcher of Hama”, was referred to Swiss justice in March for war crimes and crimes against humanity dating back to February 1982, during the bloody repression of an Islamist insurrection in the city of Hama, in central Syria. It caused between 10,000 and 40,000 deaths.
“We feel that the need for justice is increased by the latest events,” says Meystre. The opening of Syrian prisons potentially gives access to witnesses to the massacre who could testify at a trial in Switzerland, he says.
Swiss justice would, in his eyes, have a role to play if the former Syrian vice-president is found, the authorities in Syria having little chance of being able to judge the regime’s accomplices in the short term. (ats)
Update on the situation in Syria
Snakes in Malaysia are something
Video: watson
This might also interest you:
On December 4, Brian Thompson, boss of an insurance giant, was shot dead in front of the doors of the Hilton Midtown in Manhattan. Since then, the shooter has aroused real fascination. From his profile to the motive for the crime, Luigi Mangione, arrested Tuesday evening in a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, still hides many mysteries. Narrative.
Manhattan. Without doubt one of the most monitored districts in the United States. MoMA is 100 meters away. Times Square, a seven-minute walk. Under a blue suit and with a confident step, Brian Thompson passes in front of the New York Hilton Midtown when a first bullet lodges not far from his spine. The executive director of UnitedHealthcare Group, the country’s most powerful insurer, was to participate in a party reserved for investors. But he will never join his shareholders this Wednesday, December 4, shortly after 6:45 a.m.
Swiss
