Paris, 8 April 2025. Majdi Nema, former spokesman and high official of the Syrian armed group Jaysh al-Islam ("Army of Islam"), will appear before the Paris Criminal Court from 29 April to 26 May 2025. He is accused of complicity in the war crime of conscription of minors, and of taking part in a group formed to prepare war crimes between 2013 and 2016. He faces a sentence of twenty years’ imprisonment.
"The opening of this trial marks the culmination of six long years of investigation, the first to look into the abuses committed by Jaysh al-Islam in Eastern Ghouta", said Clémence Bectarte, lawyer of the civil parties and coordinator of FIDH’s Litigation Action Group. "This trial will establish the extent of Majdi Nema’s responsibility for the war crimes committed by the group, within which he held the central position of spokesperson."
In January 2020, Majdi Nema was arrested in Marseille and placed in pre-trial detention, following a complaint filed against Jaysh al-Islam in June 2019, in response to the victims’ call for justice. Five Syrian victims have joined the proceedings as civil parties, alongside the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Ligue des droits de l’Homme (LDH), organisations supporting them.
"One year after the first trial in France on crimes committed in Syria, targeting high officials of the regime, the civil parties are now eagerly awaiting the opening of this trial, which they hope will shed light on crimes committed in Syria by others than the regime, more specifically those committed by the rebel group Jaysh al-Islam, in which Majdi Nema played a key role", said Marc Bailly, lawyer for the civil parties.
A trial based on universal jurisdiction
Since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, victims’ ability to obtain justice has been hindered by the absence of independent judicial mechanisms in Syria and the impossibility of referring cases to the International Criminal Court. As a result, victims have turned to other countries, including France, to initiate proceedings on the basis of universal or extraterritorial jurisdiction.
The opening of this trial comes at a time of transition, just a few months after the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
"The fall of Bashar al-Assad on December 8, 2024, has opened important and long-awaited prospects for achieving justice in Syria. However, these prospects can only be realized through the establishment of an independent judicial system that fully complies with international standards. Our commitment to supporting victims remains unwavering and unconditional, regardless of the identity of either the victim or the perpetrator", said Mazen Darwish, General Director of SCM.
"This trial represents a significant achievement in the implementation of universal jurisdiction by French courts, and a decisive step in the fight against impunity for crimes committed by all parties to the conflict in Syria", said Patrick Baudouin, lawyer for LDH and FIDH.
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