Posted on 12/17/2024 10:31:58 AM PST by bitt
A story last week on CNN about a Syrian "prisoner" who the network claimed had been held for years and that correspondent Clarissa Ward called one of the most extraordinary moments I have witnessed” in her 20 years as a journalist turns out to have been a notorious torturer for the Assad regime.
He told CNN his name was "Adel Gharbal" from Homs and claimed he was arrested three months earlier after his phone had been searched. He was taken to Damascus, he says, and thrown in prison. He claims not to have seen sunlight for three months when the CNN crew released him.
The Syrian fact-checking site Verify-Sy debunked the story in 48 hours, identifying the "prisoner" as Salama Mohammad Salama, AKA "Abu Hamza," a first lieutenant in Syrian Air Force Intelligence known in the city of Homs as being in charge of several checkpoints in the city.
The opportunity for theft, graft, and extortion at these checkpoints is well known, and residents say Salama profited enormously from his activities. He also engaged routinely in torture to get what he wanted.
Verify-Sy did CNN's job for it, pointing out several problems with "Adel Gharbal's" story.
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."
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at pjmedia.com ...
p
Did they bring him back to the US and give him his own show ? LOl
He’s hiding out on MSNBC.
Those wacky CNN bozos. LOL!
Geezers, UNRWA + CNN. What could go wrong?
Leftists are such idiots.
No discernment.
So fake it’s embarrassing.
Sounds vaguely familiar ....
Freed prisoner who said he was a victim of the Assad regime was an intelligence officer, locals say
12/17/2024 5:30:32 AM PST · by TigerClaws · 7 replies
CNN ^
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4284936/posts
Report: CNN May Have Been Duped By Fake ‘Syrian Prisoner’
12/16/2024 2:15:44 PM PST · by SmokingJoe · 12 replies
YouTube ^ | 12/16/2024 | JOHN HAYWARD
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/4284857/posts
Prisoner CNN helped free from Syrian prison was actually notorious Assad regime torturer: report
12/16/2024 8:32:26 AM PST · by Red Badger · 17 replies
NY Post ^ | December 16, 2001 | Patrick Reilly
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4284800/posts
Syrian Prisoner Freed by CNN’s Clarissa Ward May Have Been Intelligence Officer in Hiding
12/15/2024 7:10:20 PM PST · by Roberts · 26 replies
The Wrap ^ | 12/15/24 | Bruce Haring
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4284724/posts
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