France’s judiciary on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad on suspicion of complicity in war crimes, specifically relating to the death of a French-Syrian man in 2017.

Investigating judges suspect al-Assad of complicity in murder and attacks on civilians.

The newspaper Le Parisien reported that the 59-year-old man was killed when his house in the southern Syrian city of Daraa was bombed by Syrian army helicopters in June 2017.

Citing investigators, the newspaper stated that France’s judiciary suspects that al-Assad ordered the attack and provided the necessary means for it.

At the time, al-Assad’s government was attempting to regain control of Daraa from opposition forces.

In 2023, the French judiciary issued an arrest warrant for al-Assad in connection with chemical weapons attacks.

This specifically concerned severe chemical attacks in the region of East Ghouta near Damascus in August 2013.

In an attack with the nerve gas Sarin, hundreds of people were killed. Human rights organisations report more than 1,000 fatalities.

(dpa/NAN)