On Wednesday, a French court issued its ruling in the latest legal effort available to Rifaat al-Assad, the uncle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to challenge his conviction of four years in prison in France in the case of real estate assets acquired illegally, valued at 90 million euros.
The Paris court - the highest court in the French judiciary - is expected to decide on Wednesday afternoon if it supports the arguments of the younger brother of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad or rejects his appeal, which will make the punishment final and final.
Rifaat al-Assad, the 85-year-old former Syrian vice president, was convicted on appeal on September 9, 2021 on charges of laundering Syrian public funds as part of an organized gang between 1996 and 2016. He was sentenced to four years in prison, issued by the Court of First Instance.
He was also found guilty by the Paris Court of Appeal of aggravated tax fraud and clandestine employment, and ordered the confiscation of all real estate deemed fraudulently acquired.
This is the second case related to "unlawful gains" that the French judiciary is handling after the case of "Theodorin Obiang", the eldest son of the President of Equatorial Guinea, who was sentenced in July 2021 to a suspended prison sentence of 3 years and a fine of 30 million euros.
Huge fortune
Since 2014, the French judiciary has opened an investigation into the huge wealth of Rifaat al-Assad, following a complaint filed by two organizations;
One of them is Transparency International, and the French authorities confiscated his movable assets and luxury real estate, and the investigation showed that he and his relatives transferred assets through companies in Panama, Liechtenstein, and then to Luxembourg.
In Switzerland, the former Syrian official is being pursued on suspicion of war crimes for his role in the killing of up to 40,000 civilians during the military campaign on the city of Hama (central Syria), and at that time he was a commander of the so-called "Defense Brigades".
He may also be tried in Spain on suspicion of illegal gain related to more than 500 properties purchased for 691 million euros.
In 2017, the Spanish authorities carried out a judicial operation targeting the assets of the Syrian president's uncle in Spain, on charges including money laundering.
Rifaat al-Assad left Syria in 1984 after a failed coup attempt against his brother Hafez, and declared his opposition to his nephew Bashar al-Assad after he assumed the presidency in 2000.