The amount of Syrian assets frozen in Switzerland amounts to 99 million Swiss francs (106 million euros), the Swiss economy ministry told AFP today, clarifying that these are amounts frozen under sanctions adopted in 2011.

Switzerland had then aligned itself with the European Union’s sanctions against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

They are not assets belonging to the former leader who was ousted on Sunday after more than a decade of civil war, but assets linked to persons and entities that were frozen after the adoption of these sanctions in 2011, the finance ministry clarified, confirming information from the newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ).

The German-language newspaper questions whether hidden assets can be found in Switzerland. As when “dictators fall, Switzerland and its economic position reflexively return to the fore,” explains the Swiss newspaper.

However, “a hunt for Assad’s millions” does not seem to be out of the question, as “Switzerland’s economic relations with Syria have practically frozen since 2011”, writes NZZ.

Currently, 318 people and 87 entities are included in the list of these sanctions.

The sanctions target individuals or entities that “share responsibility for the Syrian regime’s violent repression against the civilian population, who supported the Syrian regime and its military, or who benefited from the Syrian regime’s privileges,” according to the economy ministry. .

On Sunday, rebels seized the capital Damascus after a lightning attack on November 27 that shook the country and ended more than 50 years of rule by the Assad family.