The freezing of assets against Rami Makhlouf, a cousin of Bashar al-Assad, must be kept in place for the period 2016-2017, the General Court of the EU (EGC) ruled in a judgment returned on Thursday 18 May (case T-410/16).
Makhlouf has been on the Council of the EU list of persons subject to sanctions (ban on entering the EU, freezing of assets) due to their close ties to the Syrian regime since 2011 (see EUROPE 10375). He appealed to the EGC for his inclusion on the list to be cancelled for...