A judge in Syria issued an arrest warrant on Saturday for ousted President Bashar al-Assad for his role in what the court order described as the “2011 Daraa incidents,” referring to the deadly government crackdown on unrest in the southwestern Syrian city. The crackdown turned into a 10-day siege and was widely seen as the catalyst for the Syrian uprising.
Syria’s state-run SANA news agency reported that Judge Tawfiq al-Ali of Damascus issued the arrest warrant “in absentia against criminal Bashar al-Assad on charges related to the 2011 Daraa incidents.”
Judge al-Ali told SANA that the arrest warrant includes charges of premeditated murder, torture leading to death, and unlawful deprivation of liberty.
“The judicial decision opens the door for circulating the warrant through Interpol and pursuing the case internationally. The step comes in response to a lawsuit filed by families of victims in Daraa related to the incidents that took place on November 23, 2011,” SANA reported.
Bashar al-Assad has been reportedly living in Russia since fleeing Damascus during the 2024 Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham offensive, which ended his regime and brought rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa to power.
