Haitham al-Maleh says Syrian president and those who have enabled his crimes must be brought to justice, as Russia attempt to bring both sides together for talks.
member of the opposition Syrian National Council has said the entire regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad must be removed before the country finally sees peace.
Haitham al-Maleh, a former Syrian judge and well-known human rights activist, told al-Araby al-Jadeed that Assad's resignation would not be enough to end the conflict and there could be "no peace without justice".
"Assad is criminal number one and within the regime there are many high-ranking officials and their aides we will not hesitate to prosecute," he said while speaking via telephone from Brussels.
Maleh, who was imprisoned by the Syrian regime under both Hafez and Bashar al-Assad, said that Russia and Iran would also answer for its involvement in the Assad regime.
"The day will come when we take Russia and Iran to the International Court of Justice in the Hague for their crimes against the Syrian people and their support for Bashar al-Assad's criminal regime."