Sat 09 October 2021:
According to pro-government Al Watan daily, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad has allowed his exiled uncle Rifaat to return to Syria.
“Rifaat Al-Assad arrived in Damascus yesterday, in order to prevent his imprisonment in France after a court ruling was issued and after the confiscation of his property and money in Spain as well,” it added.
Reuters could not immediately verify the Al Watan report.
FRANCE UPHOLDS 4-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR BASHAR AL-ASSAD’S UNCLE
Rifaat al-Assad, a former Syrian vice president who was exiled in the 1980s, was living in France when he was charged with tax fraud and money laundering.
He was sentenced to four years in prison earlier this year, which he was unlikely to serve due to his older age, but the verdict cleared the way for the seizure of all of his property in France.
His French fortune includes two townhouses in chic Parisian neighbourhoods, a stud farm, about 40 apartments and a chateau, AFP said, as well as one property in London, worth €29 million ($33 million).
Rifaat al-Assad and his family also built up a huge portfolio of properties in Spain, valued at around 695 million euros ($822m), which were all seized by the authorities in 2017.
His Spanish properties had already been seized as part of a money laundering probe.
Brother to former Syrian ruler Hafez al-Assad, the retired commander is known as the “Butcher of Hama” for killing around 40,000 Syrians in the 1982 Hama massacre.
Rifaat al-Assad with former Syrian ruler Hafez al-Assad.
According to Amnesty International, Rifaat al-Assad, the then-Chief of General Staff, was responsible for the 1982 Hama massacre, which killed between 10,000 and 25,000 civilians.
Rifaat al-Assad, who is said to be at odds with his nephew, was forced into exile after a failed 1984 coup against his brother.
He first went to Switzerland and then France, where he started building a vast real estate fortune throughout central Europe and the UK.
According to the al-Watan article, he will not play a political or social role.
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