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Four Corners: April 24

War crimes investigators assemble evidence against the shocking crimes of Syria's Bashar al-Assad.

Monday’s Four Corners is a Channel 4 film, “The Case Against Assad” as investigators assemble evidence against the shocking crimes of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.

The images of Syrian men, women and children killed in a chemical gas attack in April appalled the world, and led the United States to unleash an air strike on the Syrian regime. But as shocking as the use of these weapons is, it was just the latest act of brutality rained down on the citizens of Syria by the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

“Too many people have been physically abused, too many people have been psychologically abused, too many people have died in detention of unnatural causes to say that there’s anything else but a widespread and indeed systematic practice of abuse.” War Crimes Investigator

Now, international pressure is rising for Assad and his regime to be held to account for years of atrocities. In a secret location in Europe, war crimes investigators have been building a criminal case against the Syrian regime.

“We’re trying to lay the foundations for a prosecution along the Nuremberg lines, where prosecutors can lead with heavy, heavy irrefutable documentary material.” War Crimes Investigator

Using a cache of more than 600-thousand smuggled documents, investigators have been piecing together evidence of what has happened to the thousands of Syrians who have been killed, tortured or “disappeared” at the hands of the Assad government.

“We didn’t set out to build a case against President Assad or any other individual, we went where the documents took us.” War Crimes Investigator

Investigators have amassed a vast trove of evidence, including thousands of photographs smuggled out by a regime defector.

“They were actually numbering, indexing, photographing, building files on the people they tortured to death in total violation of international law, of their own laws, and were keeping meticulous records of it.” Former US Ambassador

The investigators have also interviewed hundreds of people whose names appear on arrest lists and interrogation notes, along with survivors, former prisoners and family members of Assad’s victims, who say they want the perpetrators brought before a court.

“I will not rest until I take them to court and get justice. Justice for me and my friends who they killed. Even if it costs me my life. I will pursue them and I will bring them to justice no matter what.” Former Prisoner

Now, the war crimes investigators believe they have the evidence needed.

“We’re talking about the security services, we’re talking about state security, we’re talking about military security, we’re talking about Air Force Intelligence, within the chain of command, official forces… This is the clearest case that I’ve ever seen.” Former US Ambassador

This powerful film shines a light on the barbarism of the Syrian regime at a time when the future of President Assad is being argued over by the world’s most powerful nations.

Monday 24th April at 8.30pm on ABC.

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