Swiss unfreeze 3 million euros held by Assad cousin
Switzerland is unfreezing roughly 3 million euros ($4 million) held in a Geneva bank by a cousin of Syrian President Bashar Assad, according to a court ruling. The money, held by Hafez Makhlouf, head of a branch of Syrian state security, was frozen in April when he was trying to conclude a property deal in Syria .
However, it was then unfrozen in September after he appealed in absentia because it predated sanctions imposed by the Swiss in May over the Syrian government's crackdown on the uprising against the president, according to the Swiss court ruling. This latest ruling, made public after a hearing in January, rejects a last-ditch effort by Swiss prosecutors to keep the funds frozen on grounds of suspected money-laundering. (Reuters)
