• French court issues arrest warrants for Bashar al-Assad and six former officials.
• Warrants relate to the 2012 bombing of a press center in Homs that killed two journalists.
• The attack is considered part of attempts to limit media coverage of the Syrian regime's crimes.

French judicial authorities have issued arrest warrants for ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and six other top former officials connected to the 2012 killing of journalists in Homs, as stated by the lemonde. Journalists Marie Colvin and Rémi Ochlik were killed in the attack, which has been deemed a potential crime against humanity and a war crime.

The warrants target Assad and senior officials, including his brother Maher al-Assad and intelligence chief Ali Mamlouk. The specific incident occurred on February 22, 2012, when a rocket struck an informal press center, resulting in the fatalities and injuries of several journalists, according to trtglobal and aljazeera.

Legal representatives from the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) have emphasized that these warrants signify a pivotal step toward a trial for the war crimes committed during the Syrian conflict, detailing how the attack on the press center was intentional and aimed at foreign journalists attempting to document government actions. This perspective highlights the regime's strategy to inhibit media coverage of its activities, as shared by both FIDH and the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression.

FIDH noted that this legal development aligns with France's framework of allowing crimes against humanity to be prosecuted within its courts, indicating that multiple warrants have been issued against Syrian officials in prior cases, as noted by aljazeera.