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Mid-January.. French Justice to Determine Fate of Former Syrian Central Bank Governor
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The shift in Mayaleh's status from accused to witness reveals legal complexities in prosecuting Syrian officials accused of financing war crimes
The Paris Court of Appeal will review on January 15 an appeal submitted by the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office regarding the status of Adib Mayaleh, former governor of Syria's Central Bank, suspected of involvement in financing crimes attributed to Bashar al-Assad's regime.
French prosecutors suspect Mayaleh's involvement, during his tenure as central bank head, in financing a regime accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, though he obtained assisted witness status with the judge last May.
A hearing was held Wednesday before the investigating chamber that will decide mid-January on maintaining his privileged witness status. His lawyer, Emmanuel Marsigny, declined to comment on the case proceedings.
Mayaleh has held French citizenship since 1993 and resides in France, where he was charged in December 2022 with complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes, money laundering their proceeds, and conspiracy to commit them.
The investigating judge specialized in crimes against humanity at the Paris court then saw serious evidence to charge him, but cancelled the indictment in May and granted him assisted witness status.
According to an informed source, the prosecution requested continued investigations and hearing testimonies from multiple parties including former officials, Syrian government employees, journalists, and experts. The prosecution aims through this to expose businessmen's roles in financing the Syrian regime, according to the same source.
Mayaleh managed the Syrian Central Bank from 2006 until 2016, then served as Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade until 2017. He is the only accused in this investigation, and previously requested in June to nullify the trial claiming functional immunity, but the Appeals Court rejected his request.
French justice has excluded functional immunity in similar Syrian cases and issued ten arrest warrants against senior Syrian officials during past years. The death toll in Syria has exceeded half a million people since peaceful protests erupted in 2011 and transformed into civil war.
Levant-Agencies
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