Facts
The suspect and his company Yona Star are suspected of having provided support to the Syrian army through the sale of equipment and components used directly for the surveillance and repression of the population, despite an international embargo. The materials allegedly included items that may have been used in the production of chemical weapons.
Procedure
In 2016, the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control imposed financial sanctions on the suspect and his company Yona Star and blacklisted them as it found that they had transported goods to Damascus in violation of an international embargo.
In June 2017, a preliminary investigation was opened by the French Specialized Unit for the prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture of the Paris Tribunal (integrated in 2019 within the newly created French National Anti-Terrorist Prosecution Office).
On 25 December 2021, Salah Habib was arrested in France and charged while under investigation for conspiracy to commit crimes against humanity, complicity in crimes against humanity and complicity in war crimes as well as for the laundering the proceeds of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was placed in pre-trial detention.
In January 2022, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), along with its member organization in France, the Ligue des Droits de l’Homme (LDH), and the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression were admitted as civil parties.
On 17 February 2022, the investigative judge released the suspect from pre-trial detention and placed him under house arrest and electronic surveillance. This decision was confirmed by the Paris Court of Appeals on 24 February 2022.