In France, the ex-employees of Rifaat al-Assad abandoned to their fate
Audio 02:31
Rifaat al-Assad, uncle of (and opponent of) Bashar al-Assad, was sentenced on appeal to 4 years in prison for money laundering and embezzlement.
He has since left the scene and abandoned his former employees and their families.
(Archive image) AP / Michel Euler
By: Nicolas Feldmann Follow
1 min
In Syria, after 36 years of exile, Rifaat al-Assad was authorized at the beginning of October to return to Damascus.
Bashar al-Assad's uncle was kicked out of the country in 1984 after a failed coup against his brother Hafez, then president.
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Rifaat al-Assad then found refuge in Europe and built up an immense real estate portfolio of 90 million euros.
Residences in England, Spain, but also in France and in particular a stud farm: the Saint-Jacques estate, in Bessancourt in the Val-d'Oise.
Rifaat al-Assad installs his close guard there.
But in recent years justice is looking at its properties.
In France, he was sentenced on appeal to 4 years in prison for money laundering and embezzlement.
Rifaat al-Assad has since deserted the area and left its former employees and their children, nearly 80 people, abandoned.
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