EU Court annuls Syria sanctions listings: Abdulkarim & Alkarim

The EU General Court has annulled the 2017-2019 Syria sanctions listings of Wael Abdulkarim and Alkarim for Trade and Industry LLC (Alkarim) – see T-559/17 and T-667/17 (31 January 2019).

Mr Abdulkarim was listed for being an influential businessman operating in Syria, for representing Alkarim. Alkarim was listed for being an internationally recognised Syrian conglomerate associated with Mr Abdulkarim.

The Court held that the EU had made a manifest error of assessment in its grounds for listing Mr Abdulkarim because there was no evidence corroborating the assertion that Alkarim was an internationally recognised Syrian conglomerate and Mr Abdulkarim’s 10% stake in the share capital of Alkarim was insufficient for the Council to assert that he had represented the company. Since Alkarim was listed on the sole ground of being associated with Mr Abdulkarim, the Court annulled Alkarim’s listing too.