Council of Europe lawmakers move against chief after Assad visit

June 28, 2017 7:57 AM

Agramunt had come under fire for a visit to war-torn Syria in March during which he met al-Assad.

The move by the PACE, seen being addressed by French President Francois Hollande, marks an unprecedented step back for Turkey, which becomes the first of the group's 47 member states to be reinstated on monitoring due to worries over its governance

The Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly moved Tuesday to sack its president,

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The move came after the parliamentary assembly of the human rights-focused organisation voted to amend its procedures to allow it to dismiss its president or vice president.

There was previously no procedure for sacking or withdrawing confidence from the assembly’s president.

His visit came weeks after a UN commission of inquiry into the conflict concluded that al-Assad’s regime had committed multiple war crimes during last year’s battle for Aleppo.

This include the deployment of poisonous chlorine gas and airstrikes on civilian targets.