Rifaat al-Assad states he was provided financial gifts by the Saudi royal family.
Rifaat al-Assad was founded guilty of embezzling Syrian state funds to purchase houses and offices worth EUR90 m (₤80 m) to construct a French residential or commercial property portfolio.
Assad, who was hospitalised with internal bleeding in France in December, was not in court for the judgment and is not likely to serve his sentence due to his age.
Rifaat is understood as the “Butcher of Hama” by some Syrians because