French judges have issued a new international arrest warrant for Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s former president, accusing him and six other former officials of involvement in the 2012 bombing that killed American journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Rémi Ochlik in the city of Homs. The charges include crimes against humanity and war crimes, according to judicial sources.
On February 22, 2012, Syrian forces shelled a makeshift media center in Homs’s Baba Amr neighborhood. The attack killed Colvin, a war correspondent for The Sunday Times, and Ochlik, while injuring other journalists including France’s Edith Bouvier.
Investigations by French authorities suggest the strike was deliberate, intended to silence foreign media coverage of the regime’s assault on civilian areas. Human rights lawyers and media watchdogs have long accused the Assad regime of targeting journalists as part of a broader campaign to control the narrative of Syria’s civil war.
Along with Bashar al-Assad, the arrest warrants target six top former officials of his government:
- Maher al-Assad, his brother and military commander
- Ali Mamlouk, former head of Syrian intelligence
- Ali Ayoub, army chief at the time
- Ghassan Bilal, senior security official
- Mohamed Dib Zaitoun, general security chief
- Rafik Mahmoud Shahadah, former Homs military security head
All are accused of playing roles in authorizing or carrying out the bombing that killed the journalists.
France is acting under its universal jurisdiction laws, which allow the country to prosecute serious international crimes such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity—even if committed outside its borders and by foreign nationals.
The new warrant follows earlier efforts by French prosecutors to hold Assad accountable, including a 2023 warrant related to chemical attacks and another from early 2025 involving a French-Syrian civilian killed in 2017. A previous attempt to arrest Assad was dismissed in July 2025 due to presidential immunity—an obstacle now removed as Assad no longer holds office.
The move is seen as a landmark in the global pursuit of justice for victims of Syria’s brutal civil war. It also reinforces growing international pressure on former Syrian officials suspected of war crimes.
Marie Colvin’s death has remained a symbol of the risks journalists face in conflict zones. A U.S. court in 2019 already held Syria liable in a civil case brought by her family, awarding damages and confirming that her death was intentional.
France’s criminal case may now be the first to seek criminal accountability for her killing—and for the broader pattern of attacks on the press during the Syrian conflict.
