Paris, 2 June 2025. This is a victory against impunity and a message to the world: those responsible for international crimes cannot count on escaping justice forever. It was under the principle of universal jurisdiction that the Paris Criminal Court sentenced Majdi Nema to ten years in prison.
The former spokesperson and senior official of the Syrian armed group Jaysh al-Islam was found guilty of complicity in the forced recruitment of minors aged 15 to 18, acts that constitute war crimes. The Court also convicted him for participating in a group formed with the intent to commit war crimes, including wilful harm to physical or mental integrity, abductions and unlawful detentions, as well as humiliating and degrading treatment.
This verdict is largely the result of efforts by the victims and the civil parties in their pursuit of justice. The complaint that led to this verdict against Majdi Nema was filed on 26 June 2019 by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), and the Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH).
One year after the Dabbagh case, which resulted in the life sentences of three senior officials from the fallen regime of Bashar al-Assad, this verdict marks another step forward in the fight against impunity for crimes committed in Syria, regardless of the identity of the perpetrator or the victim.
Majdi Nema has filed an appeal.
See our Q&A for more information on the background of the Nema case.