EU General Court Maintains Syrian Businessman's Placement on Sanctions List

The EU General Court in a May 18 judgment rejected an application from Syrian businessman Amer Foz to annul the European Council actions listing and then maintaining his listing on the Syria sanctions list. Subjecting Amer Foz to sanctions due to his family business interests and association with his brother, Samer, whose sanctions listing predates Amer's, is "well founded," the court said.

"In view of Samer Foz’s privileged position in the Syrian economy and his influence, the current or past business links between the applicant and Samer Foz, the fact that they are brothers, the significance of the family business in which they held shares and occupied positions of responsibility and the fact that it is impossible to rule out concertation between the applicant and Samer Foz in the disposal of their shares in Aman Holding and the dissolution and liquidation of ASM International General Trading, it is reasonable to think that the applicant poses a real risk of circumvention of the restrictive measures," the opinion said. "Consequently, in the light of all the foregoing, the Court finds that the reason for including the applicant’s name on the lists at issue due to his association with a person subject to restrictive measures is sufficiently substantiated, with the result that, in the light of that criterion, the inclusion of his name on the lists at issue is well founded."