The Syrian officials will be tried in absentia for their role in the deaths of two French Syrian men, Mazzen Dabbagh and his son Patrick, arrested in Damascus in 2013.
Scheduled to last four days, the hearings at the Paris Criminal Court will be filmed. / Photo: Reuters Archive
"For the first time, French courts will address the crimes of the Syrian authorities, and will try the most senior members of the authorities to ever be prosecuted since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in March 2011," said the International Federation for Human Rights . Ali Mamlouk, former head of the National Security Bureau, Jamil Hassan, former director of the Air Force intelligence service, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud, former head of investigations for the service in Damascus, are subject to international arrest warrants and will be tried in absentia.
"Witness testimony confirms that Mazzen and Patrick Abdelkader were both taken to a detention centre at Mezzeh Military Airport, which is run by Syrian Air Force Intelligence and notorious for the use of brutal torture," the International Federation for Human Rights said, stressing that the pair were not involved in protests against the Assad regime.
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