The “prisoner” discovered by a CNN news crew alone in one of Bashar al-Assad’s prison cells is now believed to have been one of the ousted Syrian president’s torturers.
During a news broadcast, the “captured” man identified himself as Adel Gharbal to the network’s Clarissa Ward and her crew, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Fact-checking site Verify-Sy noted the man did not behave as someone who had been held captive, calling out Gharbal’s appearance as well.
The site, a part of Poynter’s International Fact-Checking Network, said: “Despite the purported harsh treatment of detainees in secret prisons, Gharbal appeared clean, well-groomed and physically healthy, with no visible injuries or signs of torture.”
They noted the entire scene was “an incongruous portrayal” of someone allegedly kept “in solitary confinement in the dark for 90 days”.
During the broadcast, Gharbal claimed he was a father from Homs and had been held captive in the prison for three months. Ward held Gharbal’s hand, who appeared to be shaking and on the verge of tears.
The man was then taken into the sunlight by the network’s crew, however, the fact-checking site noted he did not flinch or blink when he looked up at the sky, odd behavior for someone who was kept in the dark for months.
The site, after speaking to locals in Homs, determined the man is actually named Salama Mohammad Salama, or Abu Hamza. They claim he was a first lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence which served Assad under his brutal regime.
According to Verify-Sy, the man was “frequently stationed at a checkpoint in the area’s western entrance, infamous for its abuses”, and accused him of involvement in “theft, extortion and coercing residents into becoming informants”.
Local residents claim Salama killed civilians and was responsible for detaining and torturing young men in the city on fabricated charges.
“Many were targeted simply for refusing to pay bribes, rejecting cooperation or even for arbitrary reasons like their appearance,” the site said.
Locals reveal Salama ended up behind bars more than a month prior to the now viral CNN footage due to a dispute with a higher-ranking officer.
