France upholds 4-year prison sentence for Bashar al-Assad's uncle

PARIS

The Paris Court of Appeals on Thursday upheld a four-year prison sentence given to the uncle of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad for "misappropriating public funds and money laundering.”

Eighty-four-year-old Rifaat al-Assad, who did not attend the hearing, was sentenced last year by the Paris Criminal Court for his crimes between 1996-2016.

The court also decided to confiscate his assets in France, which are estimated to be worth €90 million ($106 million), as it is also known that he owns many luxury properties in Paris and Lyon.

Assad was also found guilty of establishing a "real estate empire" by illegally using Syrian state funds.

According to Amnesty International, then Chief of General Staff Rifaat al-Assad is held responsible for the 1982 Hama massacre, where between 10,000 and 25,000 civilians lost their lives.

Two years after Hama, he tried to overthrow his brother Hafez al-Assad and was exiled from Syria.

It is known that Rifaat has been in Paris, London and Marbella, Spain from time to time.