France Issues Arrest Warrant for Syria’s Assad Over Journalist Killings

Report by “Safarti Tarjuman” International News Desk

Paris — French judicial authorities have issued arrest warrants for ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and six senior officials over the 2012 Homs bombardment that killed two foreign journalists, a move hailed as a breakthrough for international justice and press freedom.

On February 22, 2012, American war correspondent Marie Colvin (56) of The Sunday Times and French photojournalist Rémi Ochlik (28) were killed when Syrian forces shelled an informal press center in the besieged city of Homs.

Rights groups later concluded the strike was a deliberate attempt to silence foreign media coverage of the Assad regime’s crimes.

Investigators say the bombing was deliberately ordered by Assad’s forces to silence international media coverage of atrocities in Syria.

The warrants target:

• Bashar al-Assad, ousted in 2024 and believed to be in Russia,
• Maher al-Assad, his brother and commander of the 4th Armored Division,
• Ali Mamlouk, former intelligence chief,
• Ali Ayoub, ex-army chief of staff,
  alongside three other high-ranking security officials.

“This ruling marks a historic step toward justice for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Assad regime,” said Clémence Bectarte, lawyer for the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Ochlik’s family.

The FIDH and the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) applauded the decision, noting that evidence confirmed the Homs press center was specifically targeted.

“This attack was not random — it was part of Assad’s strategy to intimidate and expel foreign journalists from Syria,” said Mazen Darwish, SCM director.

Colvin, known for her fearless frontline reporting and iconic black eye patch, covered wars in Sri Lanka, Iraq, Libya, and Chechnya before her death in Syria. Her life was later portrayed in the film A Private War, honoring her commitment to reporting the truth from conflict zones.

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