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French court sentences 3 Syrian officials to life in prison in absentia for war crimes

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A Paris court sentenced three high-ranking Syrian officials in absentia to life in prison Friday for complicity in war crimes in a landmark case against the regime of Syria’s President Bashar Assad and the first such case in Europe.

The trial focused on the officials’ role in the alleged arrest, torture and killing in 2013 in Damascus of Mazen Dabbagh, a Franco-Syrian father, and his son Patrick. The four-day trial featured harrowing testimonies from survivors and searing accounts from Mazen’s brother.

FRANCE IS TRYING SYRIAN EX-OFFICIALS FOR THE TORTURE AND KILLING OF A FATHER AND SON. HERE’S WHY

Though the verdict was cathartic for plaintiffs, France and Syria do not have an extradition treaty, making the outcome largely symbolic. International arrest warrants for the three former Syrian intelligence officials — Ali Mamlouk, Jamil Hassan, and Abdel Salam Mahmoud — have been issued since 2018 to no avail.

They are the most senior Syrian officials to go on trial in a European court over crimes allegedly committed during the country’s civil war.

The court proceedings came as Assad has started to shed his longtime status as a pariah that stemmed from the violence unleashed on his opponents. Human rights groups involved in the case hoped it would refocus attention on alleged atrocities.

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Clémence Bectarte, the Dabbagh family lawyer from the International Federation for Human Rights, said the verdict was the «first recognition in France of the crimes against humanity of the Syrian regime.»

Activists hold Syrian flags next to portraits of alleged victims of the Syrian regime, during a demonstration Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at a courtroom in Paris. A Paris court will this week seek to determine whether Syrian intelligence officials — the most senior to go on trial in a European court over crimes allegedly committed during the country’s civil war — were responsible for the 2013 disappearance and deaths of Patrick and Mazen Dabbagh. The four-day hearings, starting Tuesday, are expected to air chilling allegations that President Bashar Assad’s government has widely used torture and arbitrary detentions to hold on to power during the conflict, now in its 14th year.  (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

«It is a message of hope for all Syrian victims who are waiting for justice. It is a message that must be addressed to states so that they do not normalize their relations with the regime of Bashar al-Assad,» she said.

The trial began Tuesday over the alleged torture and killing of the French-Syrian father and son who were arrested at the height of Arab Spring-inspired anti-government protests. The two were arrested in Damascus following a crackdown on demonstrations that later turned into a brutal civil war, now in its 14th year.

The probe into their disappearance started in 2015 when Obeida Dabbagh, Mazen’s brother, testified to investigators already examining war crimes in Syria.

Obeida Dabbagh and his wife, Hanane, are parties to the trial along with non-governmental organizations. They testified in court on Thursday, the third day of the trial.

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Obeida Dabbagh said he hoped the trial would set a precedent for holding Assad accountable. «Hundreds of thousands of Syrians have died. Even today, some live in fear and terror,» he said.

Despite the defendants’ absence, the trial’s significance was underscored by Brigitte Herremans, a senior researcher at the Human Rights Centre of Ghent University. «It’s very important that perpetrators from the regime side are held accountable, even if it’s mainly symbolic. It means a lot for the fight against impunity,» she said.


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Hamas to free another American in Saturday hostage release

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The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has released the names of the three hostages set to be freed Saturday, including American-Israeli Sagui Dekel-Chen, following days of concern that a ceasefire deal with Israel could collapse. 

Russian-Israeli Alexander Troufanov and Argentine-Israeli Yair Horn, who along with Dekel-Chen were abducted by Hamas from Kibbutz Nir Oz on Oct. 7, 2023, will also be released on Saturday, which will mark 497 days in captivity.

Dekel-Chen is the second American to be released by Hamas since President Donald Trump re-entered office, following the release of Keith Siegel on Feb. 1. 

FORMER HAMAS HOSTAGE’S MOM SAYS DAUGHTER WAS FORCED TO FAKE HER DEATH FOR A PROPAGANDA VIDEO

Hamas has said it will release Alexander (Sasha) Troponov, 29, Sagi Dekel-Chen, 36, Yair Horn, 46, on Saturday Feb. 15, 2025 in the next hostage release. 

International concern over the stability of the ceasefire reached new heights after Hamas threatened not to release any more hostages – in direct violation of the agreement – after it claimed that Israel had violated the treaty by not facilitating the transport of humanitarian aid and targeting Palestinians in airstrikes. 

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Trump then said on Monday that Israel should cancel the ceasefire agreement if Hamas did not hand over all remaining hostages, not just the three slated to be released on Feb. 15 under the ceasefire agreement. 

Concern mounted when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday also called on Hamas to release hostages come Saturday, but did not specify whether he meant all hostages or the three previously agreed to. 

«The Israeli formal position is that we have an agreement that should be fulfilled,» retired IDF Major General Yaakov Amidror confirmed on Thursday during a discussion hosted by the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA).

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump, accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L), speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on February 4, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

«We don’t [want to] shake the boat by adding [Trump’s] demand,» he said. «The question is, will Hamas fulfill the agreement from its side and release the three hostages? 

«I think Hamas is not going to take the risk now when this is the mood in Washington,» Amidror added. «But we don’t know.» 

Just 16 of the 33 hostages scheduled to be released during the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire have been freed. 

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Following the first week of the rocky agreement, which saw the release of seven hostages, three hostages per week were slated to be released under terms agreed to by Hamas and Israel. The final 14 hostages will be released together on Feb. 22, marking the final week of the first phase.

MOTHER OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE BEGS TRUMP, NETANYAHU TO BRING SON HOME BEFORE CEASEFIRE COLLAPSES: ‘NO MORE TIME’

The Bibas family, from left: Yarden, Ariel, Shiri, and Kfir

The Bibas family, from left: Yarden, Ariel, Shiri, and Kfir. Yarden was released by Hamas in February 2025. The fate of his family remains unknown.  (Ofri Bibas Levy)

The IDF has assessed that at least eight of the hostages slated for release in the first phase have been killed while in Hamas captivity, though the number could be higher as the fate of Shiri Bibas and her two young boys – Ariel, who was four years old when he was abducted alongside his brother Kfir, who was nine months old – remains unconfirmed by the IDF. 

Hamas has claimed they were killed by an Israeli airstrike, though the IDF has said it does not have evidence to support this. 

Mediators were supposed to start to negotiate terms for the release of the remaining 65 hostages earlier this month, though Amidror said he does not believe they has officially begun. At least 26 of those slated for release in the second phase are assessed to have been killed. 

In recent weeks, the hostages have confirmed fears that they were tortured, interrogated and starved during their time in Hamas captivity. And the state of the hostages released last week sparked an outcry as many pointed out the similarities in appearance of the three men to images of those who survived the Holocaust.

Hamas releases Israeli hostages

Emaciated Israeli hostages, from left to the right, Ohad Ben Ami, Eli Sharabi and Or Levy, who were held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, are taken by terrorists to a stage before being handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025.  (AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)

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Five other Americans remain in captivity, including Edan Alexander, 19, an IDF soldier and the only remaining American still assessed to be alive, though he is not slated for release until the second phase of the ceasefire. 

IDF soldiers Itay Chen, 19, and Omer Neutra, 22, are believed to have been killed by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, and their bodies continue to be held alongside Gadi and Judi Haggai, who were also killed during the terrorist attack near their kibbutz. 

Siegel, 65, thanked Trump for his help in securing his release but urged him to ensure that the ceasefire is upheld and said, «Your leadership and strength will ensure the agreement is honored by all sides – that is what will allow all . . . hostages to return home to their families,» he added. 


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