CNN responded Sunday to reports the network and chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward may have been duped by a so-called Syrian prisoner — a man who could actually be a first lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence. “We have subsequently been investigating his background and are aware that he may have given a false identity,” Jonathan Hawkins, vice president of communications at the network, told TheWrap.
“No one other than the CNN team was aware of our plans to visit the prison building featured in our report that day. The events transpired as they appear in our film,” Hawkins said in a statement. “The decision to release the prisoner featured in our report was taken by the guard – a Syrian rebel.”
“We reported the scene as it unfolded, including what the prisoner told us, with clear attribution. We have subsequently been investigating his background and are aware that he may have given a false identity. We are continuing our reporting into this and the wider story,” Hawkins concluded.
During a segment that aired Wednesday, Ward and a rebel fighter found a prisoner who seemed to be unaware of the fall of dictator Bashar al-Assad. “In nearly twenty years as a journalist, this was one of the most extraordinary moments I have witnessed,” Ward wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
On Sunday, Verify-Sy, a website that describes itself as an “independent and unbiased platform specialized in fact-checking in Syria,” cast doubt on the man’s claim. The website’s writer, Abdul-Salam Al-Hamwi, wrote that the man, who identified himself as Adel Gharbal from Homs, claimed he had been imprisoned for three months.
“The man, hidden under a blanket despite the gunshots used to break his cell lock, claimed he had not seen sunlight for three months. However, his reaction to the light did not match such a claim—he did not flinch or blink even when gazing up at the sky, seemingly overjoyed at his newfound ‘freedom,'” Al-Hamwi wrote.
“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—an incongruous portrayal of someone allegedly held in solitary confinement in the dark for 90 days.”
The Verify-Sy team searched for records for a man named “Adel Gharbal” and could not find any. Instead, they claim he is actually a man named Salama Mohammad Salama, who is also known as Abu Hamza, a first lieutenant in Syrian Air Force Intelligence who was well-known for his behavior in Homs.
“Residents of the Al-Bayyada neighborhood identified him as frequently stationed at a checkpoint in the area’s western entrance, infamous for its abuses,” Al-Hamwi added. Salama’s possible offenses include that he “reportedly managed several security checkpoints in Homs and was involved in theft, extortion, and coercing residents into becoming informants.”
CNN and Ward visited the prison in question while searching for American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria in 2012. Upon entering, they saw that one cell was locked from the outside and asked the accompanying guard to open it. A man was found inside hidden under a blanket. He asked for water and identified himself as Gharbal. He later departed with the Red Crescent.
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