"Tahrir al-Sham" arrests a 50 year-old man for apostasy
Washington – North-Press
Hadeel Uoeiss
Hadeel Uoeiss
On September 18, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) arrested Bassam Dakel in Idlib on charges of apostasy and blasphemy.
Despite the fall of most of the Syrian areas taken by the opposition groups, and turning Syria into an arena to settle scores between the conflicting forces, Jabhat al-Nusra is still living in a bubble isolated from the reality surrounding it, and arresting people where the latest was the citizen “Bassam Dakel”.
HTS police took the citizen Dakel to the investigation to join thousands of residents of the city detained on similar charges, while Dakel suffers from several diseases, including diabetes, where he was undergoing careful treatment, which was cut since his arrest last Wednesday.
Bassam Dakel is the father of the Syrian journalist Hazem Dakel who lives in Sweden, and was also arrested by Jabhat al-Nusra in 2013, to leave with his family to Sweden.
Journalist Hazem Dakel told North-Press that the so-called Salvation government, which claims Idlib is its headquarters, “must assume its responsibilities, my father isn’t the only victim without any guilt, but there are thousands of innocent Syrians in Jabhat al-Nusra prisons”.
Dakel added that his father’s story “resembles the tragic story of the opposition, which the Syrian government considers as terrorists, and the victims of the regime’s steadfastness in Idlib ended either in the prisons of “al-Nusra”, or by “assassinations”.
“All our sacrifices and convictions for the peaceful movement against the tyranny of the Assad regime ended in the prisons of Jabhat al-Nusra, which told the Syrians that: ‘We came only for your support’, where there is no choice for the opponents of the regime but to be arrested or assassinated as happened with the Syrian activist Raed al-Fares”, said Hazem Dakel.
Locals of Idlib had previously accused the HTS of assassinating the civilian activist Raed al-Fares in Kafranbel in Idlib, because of his harsh criticism of “radical” groups in the region, led by HTS.
Since the HTS had taken control over large areas of Idlib countryside, following fighting in some of these areas and settlements in others at the beginning of this year, most of the countryside of Idlib, the last of the armed opposition areas have been in its hands.
Journalist Hazem Dakel told North-Press that the so-called Salvation government, which claims Idlib is its headquarters, “must assume its responsibilities, my father isn’t the only victim without any guilt, but there are thousands of innocent Syrians in Jabhat al-Nusra prisons”.
Dakel added that his father’s story “resembles the tragic story of the opposition, which the Syrian government considers as terrorists, and the victims of the regime’s steadfastness in Idlib ended either in the prisons of “al-Nusra”, or by “assassinations”.
“All our sacrifices and convictions for the peaceful movement against the tyranny of the Assad regime ended in the prisons of Jabhat al-Nusra, which told the Syrians that: ‘We came only for your support’, where there is no choice for the opponents of the regime but to be arrested or assassinated as happened with the Syrian activist Raed al-Fares”, said Hazem Dakel.
Locals of Idlib had previously accused the HTS of assassinating the civilian activist Raed al-Fares in Kafranbel in Idlib, because of his harsh criticism of “radical” groups in the region, led by HTS.
Since the HTS had taken control over large areas of Idlib countryside, following fighting in some of these areas and settlements in others at the beginning of this year, most of the countryside of Idlib, the last of the armed opposition areas have been in its hands.