In exile in Russia, but unable to escape justice? The deposed Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, is the target of a new arrest warrant for complicity in war crimes, issued on Tuesday, January 21, by two French judges from the crimes against humanity section of the Paris judicial court. On June 7, 2017, the bombardment of an area of civilian dwellings blamed on the regime in the city of Daraa, in southwestern Syria, had killed Salah Abou Nabout, a 59-year-old French-Syrian national and former French teacher.

Six high-ranking Syrian army officials already have arrest warrants for complicity in war crimes, as part of this judicial information, opened in 2018, after a complaint filed by Omar Abou Nabout, son of the victim. "This case represents the culmination of a long fight for justice, which I and my family have believed in from the outset," said Nabout, who hopes that "a trial will take place and that the perpetrators will be arrested and tried, wherever they may be."

Her father's home had been hit by barrel bombs – a mixture of explosives, scrap metal and fuel designed to cause as much human damage as possible. The house also housed a school intended to enable children to continue attending classes despite the destruction of educational establishments. In June 2017, this air-led bombing campaign left dozens of civilians dead in Daraa, the cradle of the 2011 revolt against the government, which was beyond the regime's control.

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