The French public prosecutor's office has reopened the case of the killing of American journalist Marie Colvin and French photographer Rémi Ochlik in a bombing in Syria that took place 13 years ago.
The AFP quoted the French anti-terrorism prosecutor's office as saying on Tuesday that Colvin and Ochlik were killed in Syria on February 22, 2012. Now, the investigation into war crimes has accelerated and has extended to include crimes against humanity.
On December 17, the anti-terrorism prosecutor's office decided to expand the ongoing judicial investigation against unknown individuals, according to what AFP reported on Tuesday, citing a source close to the case.
The French public prosecutor's office confirmed that it had referred the matter to the investigating judge to investigate "new facts that constitute crimes against humanity", in particular "the implementation of a premeditated plot against a group of civilians, including journalists, activists and human rights defenders, as part of a widespread or systematic attack."
The investigation into the killings of Rémi Ochlik and Marie Colvin covers “deliberate attacks on life” and “persecution” of a group of people – in this case Rémi Ochlik, Marie Colvin, British photographer Paul Conroy, French reporter Edith Bouvier and Syrian translator Wael Omar – and “other inhumane acts” against Edith Bouvier.
“These latest developments are unprecedented because they pave the way for charges of crimes against humanity to be brought against journalists working in areas of armed conflict,” said Mathieu Pagar, one of Bouvier’s lawyers.
The lawyer, together with his colleague Marie Douzé, submitted observations to the investigating judge, explaining why they believed a supplementary indictment should be issued by the anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office. The judge referred the matter to the prosecutor’s office, which followed up on it.
“We can only welcome the prosecutor’s position. As far as we know, there is no precedent of this kind in France. It is a major step forward for war correspondents,” said Marie Douzé.
“Journalists can now present themselves as civil parties by intervening in an ongoing judicial investigation into crimes against humanity, and can even file a complaint so that such a judicial investigation can be opened,” said Emmanuel Daoud, a lawyer for Marie Colvin’s sister, Wael Omar, and Reporters Without Borders.
“This is a positive step forward because this characterization is consistent with the facts revealed by the investigation. We are now waiting for the judges to issue arrest warrants for the senior political and military officials whose responsibility has been established,” said Clemence Bectart, a lawyer for the Ochlik family, the International Federation for Human Rights, and the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression.
On 21 February 2012, Western journalists entered the city of Homs, which was under siege by Bashar al-Assad’s forces, and reached a house that had been converted into a press center in the Baba Amr district, a stronghold of opposition factions led by the Free Syrian Army.
Early in the morning, they were awakened by the sound of explosions and realized that the neighborhood was being targeted by regime forces. When the building they were staying in was bombed, they decided to leave. The first to pass through the door, Marie Colvin and Remi Ochlik, were killed by a mortar shell. Inside, the force of the explosion threw the rest to the ground.
Edith Bouvier, 31, was seriously injured in the leg. She was smuggled to Lebanon and then returned to France. In Paris, the public prosecutor opened an investigation into the French victims in March 2012. Investigations began into murder in the case of Remi Ochlik and attempted murder in the case of Edith Bouvier.
Before the French public prosecutor’s office took the initiative to combat terrorism, Zaman al-Wasl published a report titled “The Return of the Leader of the (Death Squads) to Syria via Damascus Airport… Accused of the Massacre of the Clock Tower in Homs and Baba Amr and the Killing of an American Journalist.”
The report stated that war criminal Khaled al-Fares returned to Syria after fleeing for a month, via Damascus International Airport from Dubai, renewing his threats to some families who demanded his trial in the city of Homs.
The report indicated that "Al-Fares" was never arrested despite his involvement in documented crimes, and according to sources, he made a mysterious "settlement", after which he reopened his car showroom on the Hama Road in Homs, and began to move between Homs and Damascus with complete freedom.
"Zaman Al-Wasl" reviewed documents and testimonies from defectors from the ousted regime, confirming that "Al-Fares", who played the role of head of a network of informants and a fighter and supporter of the so-called "National Defense" in the city of Homs, played a major role in tracking down American journalist Marie Colvin, who was killed in a bombing that targeted her headquarters on February 22, 2012.
The testimonies stressed that "Al-Fares" was responsible for transmitting the journalist's coordinates to the regime forces, which led to her being directly targeted.
*Who is Al-Fares?
Khaled Al-Fares is described as the leader of a network of informants, and was nicknamed the "notorious drug smuggler" before becoming a tool in the hands of the Syrian security services.
He led a group known as the "Death Squad", which was involved in carrying out massacres and serious violations against civilians in Homs, including the so-called "Homs Clock" massacre, and he also led a brutal attack on Baba Amr in Homs in 2012.
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