France has issued an arrest warrant for Bashar al-Assad.

The French judiciary has reportedly issued an arrest warrant for Bashar al-Assad, the ousted leader of the Ba'ath regime in Syria. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stated in a post on X, "The French judiciary has issued an arrest warrant against Bashar al-Assad. The crimes of the regime that I witnessed in Sednaya Prison must not go unpunished. France has mobilized and will continue to mobilize for justice for the Syrians."

According to a statement made to AA by the French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office (Pnat), Pnat requested an arrest warrant for Assad on January 16 as part of the investigation into the death of a French citizen of Syrian origin who died in Syria in 2017.

According to a statement from French judicial sources, the judges responsible for the investigation issued an arrest warrant for Assad on January 20 on the grounds of complicity in war crimes due to murder and intentional attacks against civilians.

Barrot and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had conducted inspections at the torture facility Sednaya Prison in the capital Damascus on January 3, following the fall of the Ba'ath regime in Syria.

A French court issued an arrest warrant for Assad on November 15, 2023, for complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes. The court accused Assad of complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes during chemical attacks in the Eastern Ghouta region of Syria in 2013.