US District Court finds Syrian government liable for death of Marie Colvin

[smurfy]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-47082088

It is the first time Mr Assad's government is held to account for a war crime and sets a legal precedent, the BBC's Barbara Plett Usher in Washington reports.

The US District Court for the District of Columbia found that the Syrian military and intelligence tracked the broadcasts of the journalists covering the siege of Homs, and then targeted the media centre in a barrage of artillery fire.
Judge Jackson said this was part of the regime's long standing policy of violence against the media.
Colvin "was specifically targeted because of her profession, for the purpose of silencing those reporting on the growing opposition movement in the country," the judge ruled.
"[The] murder of journalists acting in their professional capacity could have a chilling effect on reporting such events worldwide."

[RG4ORDR]

This isn't going to amount to anything in the end. You can find them liable, but do you seriously think the US will do anything other than sanction Syria?

[ASparkle]

Given the current status of the US government, I doubt we'd even go as far as sanctioning the Syrussian regime.

[RG4ORDR]

There's also a matter that the Syrians can simply say;
"She was in the country illegally."
"She went to an active war zone and embedded herself with an opposing force."
Which are true statements, though Syrian targeting media members isn't new, nor is their willingness to bombard populated areas.

[lope]

Who defended the Syrian Government in an American Court of Law? I'm genuinely curious how this works, does the US expect preparations from a government who less than two months ago we were in a proxy war with?

[Ronin]

Putin likes Syria, so of course Trump won't do anything that would make his best friend upset.

[yssarbeN]

There aren't any more sanctions they could put on us, what really sucks is that governments don't give a fuck about sanctions, they don't affect them in any way, it only fucks us more, it's basically a punishment for anyone living here