In a judgement returned on Thursday 14 June (case C-458/17 P), the Court of Justice of the EU upheld the continued freezing of the assets of Rami Makhlouf, cousin of Bashir al-Assad, over the period 2016-2017.
Makhlouf, who has been on the list of persons targeted by EU sanctions against Syria since 2011, is a businessman active in the sectors of telecommunications (Syriatel), financial services (the investment funds Al Mashreq, Bena Properties and Cham Holdings), transport and real estate, who supports the Syrian regime through his financial interests.
In May 2017, the General Court of the EU, to which Makhlouf had appealed, rejected the case brought by the cousin of the Syrian dictator for the sanctions to be cancelled over the period from May 2016 to May 2017 (case T-410/16) (see EUROPE 11791).
In its judgement, the Court rejects Makhlouf's appeal and confirms that the measures of the sanctions will be maintained in place. In particular, the Court finds that the General Court did not reverse the burden of proof by requiring Makhlouf to provide evidence that he was no longer linked to the Syrian regime. The General Court considered that, given the elements of the dossier, the Council had effectively shown that Makhlouf was linked to the Syrian regime and that he supported it. As to the argument that the General Court omitted to rule on a number of arguments raised by Makhlouf at first instance, the Court finds that this is not the case. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)