A French court has sentenced three of Syria's top security officials to life in prison. They were charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The three sentenced are Ali Mamluk, Jamil Hasan and Abdel Salam Mahmud. All three were absent from the court yesterday when the verdict was announced.

All three convicted are believed to be currently in Syria. Among them, Ali Mamluk is serving as a top adviser to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. All of them have international arrest warrants.

It was alleged that these three were involved in the death of Mazen Dabagh, a French citizen of Syrian origin, and his son Patrick Dabagh. In 2013, the father and son were arrested from Damascus, the capital of Syria. Later in 2018 they were declared dead.

Patrick, 20, was a student at Damascus University at the time of his arrest. And his father Mazen was serving as a senior educational advisor in a French educational institution in Damascus.

In the hearing of the trial, the lawyers said that since 2011, there have been massive crimes in Syria. During this time, Mazen and his son suffered the same fate as thousands of Syrians.