UK lifts sanctions off pro-Assad Syria businessman

The British government has lifted sanctions from a prominent Syrian businessman with close ties to the dictator Bashar Al-Assad, without giving any reason.

According to the Telegraph, the British Treasury removed Tarif Al-Akhras – the cousin of the father of Bashar’s wife Asma and the founder of a commodities and trading company – from its sanctions list last week, without providing any explanation as to why.

Akhras’ removal from the list, which imposes sanctions against businessmen and figures who assist and are close to the Syrian regime, is the first such occurrence following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (EU).

The EU sanctioned Al-Akhras in 2011 following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war and the brutal crackdown on protests by the regime, of which the businessman allegedly benefitted from and supported. In 2016, the EU also dismissed an appeal submitted by Al-Akhras to have the sanctions lifted.

Amongst the reports of Al-Akhras’ assistance to the Assad regime is his alleged donation of funds to the regime’s military security branch in the city of Homs, which has extensively been accused of committing torture and human rights violations against detainees and dissidents.

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As a member of the EU, Britain was bound to the same imposition of sanctions on such figures, and resulted in the British High Court’s ordering of a one-year prison sentence to Al-Akhras due to contempt of court over his failure to pay an American firm $26 million in a food import deal.

Following the Brexit process and its withdrawal from the EU, however, the UK has free reign over its domestic and foreign policy decisions, enabling it to lift sanctions from figures such as Al-Akhras.

The move was strongly condemned by human rights organisations and firms working to prosecute Al-Akhras and others who have supported the Syrian regime. A barrister at the human rights law firm Guernica 37, Ibrahim Olabi, questioned the decision as less influential businessmen were “listed under a very similar criterion when the UK was part of the EU and were subsequently transferred into UK sanctions post-Brexit.”

The Syrian British Council (SBC) has also slammed the lifting of sanctions, with its Executive Manager Mazen Ghariban stating that it is in total contradiction to Britain’s “current policy to hold all those involved in criminal activities in support of the Syrian regime accountable.”

London’s move comes only months after the government imposed sanctions on numerous allies of Al-Assad and reiterated its commitment to holding the regime and its war criminals responsible.

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