Perpetrator freed instead of victim CNN reporter crawls on the coattails of Assad soldiers
She gives him a drink and holds his hand: CNN journalist Clarissa Ward claims to have freed a man in the Syrian torture prison Saidnaya. Now the supposed victim turns out to be a notorious perpetrator.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- CNN journalist Clarissa Ward has caused a stir with a report from Syria's notorious Saidnaya prison.
- The British-American dual citizen appears to have freed another imprisoned man days after the prison was abandoned.
- The video of the incident has sowed doubt on social networks: these are the reasons.
- One website now claims to have discovered that the man is not the victim Adel Gharbal, but the perpetrator Mohammad Salama.
- According to the website, Salama is an officer in the Syrian air force and allegedly responsible for torture and murder.
"In almost 20 years as a journalist, this was one of the most extraordinary moments I have experienced," wrote Clarissa Ward on December 12. The London-born journalist visited the Syrian torture prison Saidnaya for CNN. But the report that touched the 44-year-old so deeply is now being criticized.
What happened? Ward is traveling with a soldier in Saidnaya. The door to one of the cells is still locked. The soldier shoots the lock open and the duo enter the room. A blanket lies inside, under which a man emerges.
Ward believes they have freed a prisoner who has not had anything to drink for days and has not seen sunlight for three months. The British-American dual citizen gives the supposed inmate a drink, takes the man by the hand and leads him outside. "Oh God, there's the light," says the man in the open air - and praises Allah.
Justified doubts
However, doubts were quickly raised on social media after the publication. The man is relatively thirsty for not having drunk anything for days. Although he claims not to have seen daylight for three months, he has no problem looking up outside. And he is accompanied by a soldier, not a doctor.
It is suspicious that the cell was still locked days after the prison was liberated. Other details do not fit the picture either - from the surprisingly tidy cell to the apparently good overall physical condition to the trimmed nails and hair, the protagonist does not look as if he is a victim.
Now there are increasing signs that "Adel Gharbal" from Homs is not who he claims to be. The website Verify-Sy searches for the name, but comes up empty. However, the research reveals who the alleged victim really is: a perpetrator named Salama Mohammad Salama.
Notorious officer from Assad's air force
The Syrian is called Abu Hamza: he is apparently a first lieutenant in the Syrian air force and notorious in Homs. Residents of a neighborhood identify him - and report that he is known for his violence at the checkpoints in the area. Salama is said to have imprisoned, tortured - and even killed - many civilians.
According to Verify-Sy, many of his victims were targeted because they did not want to pay bribes. Some also came into his focus for their appearance. The website has spoken to relatives of his victims who confirm the facts. However, Verify-Sy is not publishing the statements out of concern for the safety of its sources.
The question now is whether CNN knew about these backgrounds or at least turned a blind eye to them. Clarissa Ward herself has not yet commented on the fuss, but has only said via X that the "prisoner" has been picked up by a relative.
