The highest judicial court in France on Wednesday confirmed the conviction of Rifaat the lion uncle of Bashar al-Assad of Syria, in get millions of euro worth of French property using Funds transferred from the Syrian state.
Rifaat Al-Assad 85 years old brother of Bashar father And the former Syrian dictator Hafez al-Assad, held office of Vice President but fled the country in 1984 after failed coup.
he had made a final Appeal to the Court of France of Cassation after a lower court last year assured him four-year jail sentence or judgment on for A conspiracy to wash Syrians public funds between 1996 and 2016.
In the same sentence, I was convicted of Hiding gross tax fraud and hiring servants off books, with The authorities confiscate a large number of his property.
Lifted who He did not attend the sessions due to ill health, he insists property The empire stretching across Spain, France and Britain originates from gifts From the Saudi Crown Prince and later King Abdullah, who Die in 2015.
The case is second in France passed by law last year Targeting fortunes fraudulently amassed by foreign leaders.
Teodorin Obiang, the eldest son of President of Equatorial Guinea, last year He was sentenced to three-year Sentence suspended and 30 million euros ($30 million) in Fines confirmed on appeal.
war crimes case
In Syria, Rifaat al-Assad was head of Elite Defense Brigades, the internal security forces that violently suppressed the 1982 Islamic uprising in The city of Hama.
After staying away for Three decades after his reign failed attempt to seize powervanguard-government media He reported that he had returned to Syria last Fall.
In 1984, he escaped first To Switzerland and then to France, where he obtained the Legion of Honor – the top of the country award – in 1986 for “Services provided.”
French investigators have opened an investigation into his file property collectibles in 2014 after complaints from TI and Sherpa.
They took over two houses in Paris, dozens of Apartments in elegant neighborhoods of French capital and office spaces.
Since then, about 80 of for him former Employees who live in real estate outside Paris was mostly without water and electricity because no one He was paying the bills.
help residents
While Rifaat’s age and poor health mean he is unlikely to serve at all jail time in France, Wednesday’s ruling confirms the confiscation of Properties for good.
maybe set up Syria one of The first countries You are likely to benefit from a refund scheme under the Unlawful Gain Act.
“Confiscation… hey first A necessary condition to be able to plan for to reply of “Illicit gains,” said Patrick Levas, head of Transparency International France. in A statement welcoming the court’s ruling.
but he added That it would be necessary to get resources to ordinary Syrians rather than just return them to the Assad regime – which is transparency says can be achieved using Another French law passed last year.
“The restoration of ill-gotten gains requires guarantees, without which it would be naive to hope for it give they back for the population of they countries of Livas said.
Rifaat the lion also Facing a case in court in Spain over Much more suspicious of Unlawful gain covering 500 properties, as well as prosecution in Switzerland for war crimes dating back to the eighties.
