Milan, Sep 27 (LaPresse) – A Syrian judge has issued an arrest warrant in absentia for former president Bashar al-Assad in connection with the violence that occurred in November 2011 in the city of Daraa, where the first anti-government protests took place in March 2011. According to the state news agency SANA, investigating judge Tawfiq al-Ali said the arrest warrants include charges of premeditated murder, torture resulting in death, and deprivation of liberty. The judge is investigating a lawsuit filed by the families of the victims of incidents that happened on November 23, 2011, in Daraa, during the brutal civil war that devastated the country. Assad fled to Moscow last December when rebel forces overthrew his regime.