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The court confirmed that the 84-year-old Rifaat al-Assad was sentenced to four years in prison last year, and given his advanced age, he may not have to serve his sentence.
According to reports, a French court upheld the guilty verdict of the uncle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on charges of embezzling public funds in Syria, laundering money, and using ill-gotten wealth to build a huge real estate investment portfolio in France.
Agence France-Presse reported on Thursday that the Paris Court of Appeal has confirmed that Assad has been sentenced to four years in prison, although the 84-year-old former military commander is unlikely to serve his sentence due to his age.
However, the ruling cleared the way for all of Rifaat al-Assad’s French properties, which were estimated to be worth about 90 million euros (106 million US dollars), which were confiscated according to a lower court order in June last year.
Rifaat al-Assad has been under investigation in France since 2014.
The younger brother of the late Syrian President Hafez Assad—the father of the current president—has been tried for alleged crimes committed between 1984 and 2016, including serious tax fraud and embezzlement of Syrian funds.
In June last year, the Paris court dismissed the charges against Rifaat al-Assad from 1984 to 1996, but found him guilty of organized money laundering by embezzling funds from Syrian public wallets between 1996 and 2016. He was also convicted of tax fraud.
Former Syrian Vice President Rifaat al-Assad left his homeland in 1984 after a failed coup against his brother Hafez, who led Syria from 1971 to 2000.
Agence France-Presse said his property in France includes two townhouses in a fashionable Paris neighborhood, a stud farm, about 40 apartments and a castle.
According to reports, Rifaat al-Assad and his family have also established a large portfolio of assets in Spain, valued at approximately 695 million euros ($822 million), all of which were confiscated by the authorities in 2017.
Rifaat al-Assad was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 1986 for his “services provided,” and his lawyer insisted that all his money had a legitimate source.
The French case against him began with a lawsuit filed in 2013 by the Sherpa, an anti-corruption movement organization.
The Sherpa called Thursday’s verdict “encouraging” and said in a statement that it hopes the court will now step up its crackdown on illicit funds hidden in France.
The organization said on Twitter: “This decision is a victory, and it underscores the importance of establishing a binding framework for the operational aspects of the return of large corrupt assets.”
4. This decision only makes sense for the benefit of the Syrians, victims of the misappropriation of their elite, war and political instability.
🔴Watch our webinar on the issue of property return in Syria. 👉https://t.co/TOV8iBFPnl-Sherpa (@Asso_Sherpa) September 9, 2021
In addition, the organization stated that this funding Should be allocated “Projects in the fields of health, education and good governance”.
Rifaat al-Assad (Rifaat al-Assad) is also widely regarded as responsible for the suppression of the Hafez uprising in 1982, which killed thousands of people.
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