Former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has released his first statement since fleeing to Moscow more than a week ago.
He said his ‘departure’ from Syria was not planned and did not happen during the ‘final hours of the battles’, as previously said.
Assad said he went to Lattakia, a Russian base in Syria, to ‘oversee combat operations’ when Moscow arranged an evacuation to Russia.
He added: ‘At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual or party. The only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught.’
Assad also claimed he is the ‘same person’ who from the beginning of Syria’s civil war ‘refused to barter the salvation of his nation for personal gain, or to compromise his people in exchange for numerous offers and enticements.’
His statement comes as earlier today, mass graves near Damascus were discovered, thought to contain some of the 105,000 Syrians who ‘disappeared’ under his regime.
Satellite imagery analysed by The Times found a normal graveyard north of Damascus was slowly transformed into a mass grave from 2012 onwards. Civil war began in Syra in 2011.
Gravedigger Abed Bou Jihad, 42, said the trucks with bodies would come at night: ‘Blood would be pouring out the bottom of the trucks. We would see the blood still on the road the next day.’
It is believed the mass grave is where the remains of those killed in Syria’s deadly prisons or at checkpoints were buried.
Although executions were kept secret by the regime – with most deaths being officially recorded as ‘heart attacks’ – killings were signed off by the government at an executive level by high-ranking Syrian officials.
Describing the process, a report from Amnesty International said: ‘Before they are hanged, the victims are condemned to death in ‘trials’ at the Military Field Court located in the al-Qaboun neighbourhood of Damascus, which last between one and three minutes.
‘On the day the prison authorities carry out the hangings, which they refer to as ‘the party’, they collect the victims from their cells in the afternoon. The listed detainees are told that they will be transferred to a civilian prison. Instead, they are brought to a cell in the basement of the red building, where they are severely beaten over the course of two or three hours.
‘In the middle of the night, they are blindfolded and transferred in delivery trucks or minibuses to the white building. There, they are taken into a room in the basement and hanged.
‘This takes place once or twice a week, and on each occasion, between 20 and 50 people are hanged to death. Throughout this process, the victims remain blindfolded. They are only told that they have been sentenced to death minutes before the executions are carried out; they are never told when their execution will be carried out; and they do not know how they will die until the nooses are placed around their necks.
After the execution is carried out, the victims’ bodies are loaded into a truck, transferred to Tishreen Hospital for registration and buried in mass graves,’ the report adds.
As terrorism spread across Syria and ultimately reached Damascus on the evening of Saturday, December 7, 2024, questions arose about the president’s fate and whereabouts.
This occurred amidst a flood of misinformation and narratives far removed from the truth, aimed at recasting international terrorism as a liberation revolution for Syria.
At such a critical juncture in the nation’s history, where truth must take precedence, it is essential to address these distortions.
Unfortunately, the prevailing circumstances at the time, including a total communication blackout for security reasons, delayed the release of this statement.
This does not replace a detailed account of the events that unfolded, which will be provided when the opportunity allows.
First, my departure from Syria was neither planned nor did it occur during the final hours of the battles, as some have claimed.
On the contrary, I remained in Damascus, carrying out my duties until the early hours of Sunday, December 8th, 2024. As terrorist forces infiltrated Damascus, I moved to Lattakia in coordination with our Russian allies to oversee combat operations.
Upon arrival at the Hmeimim airbase that morning, it became clear that our forces had completely withdrawn from all battle lines and that the last army positions had fallen.
As the field situation in the area continued to deteriorate, the Russian military base itself came under intensified attack by drone strikes. With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the base’s command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday 8th December.
This took place a day after the fall of Damascus, following the collapse of the final military positions and the resulting paralysis of all remaining state institutions.
At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual or party. The only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught.
I reaffirm that the person who, from the very first day of the war, refused to barter the salvation of his nation for personal gain, or to compromise his people in exchange for numerous offers and enticements is the same person who stood alongside the officers and soldiers of the army on the front lines, just meters from terrorists in the most dangerous and intense battlefields.
He is the same person who, during the darkest years of the war, did not leave but remained with his family alongside his people, confronting terrorism under bombardment and the recurring threats of terrorist incursions into the capital over fourteen years of war.
Furthermore, the person who has never abandoned the resistance in Palestine and Lebanon, nor betrayed his allies who stood by him, cannot possibly be the same person who would forsake his own people or betray the army and nation to which he belongs.
I have never sought positions for personal gain but have always considered myself a custodian of a national project, supported by the faith of the Syrian people, who believed in its vision. I have carried an unwavering conviction in their will and ability to protect the state, defend its institutions, and uphold their choices to the very last moment.
When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make a meaningful contribution is lost, any position becomes void of purpose, rendering its occupation meaningless.
This does not, in any way, diminish my profound sense of belonging to Syria and her people – a bond that remains unshaken by any position or circumstance. It is a belonging filled with hope that Syria will once again be free and independent.
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