Government forces torture media activist from Syria’s Daraa to death
DARAA, Syria (North Press) – Family of a media activist received on Tuesday the news of the death of their son in a detention center of the Syrian government forces following three years after his arrest.
A local source told North Press that the media activist Ahmad Tayseer al-Khatib lost his life inside Saydnaya Military Prison due to bad care, three years after his arrest.
He added that Ahmad hails from the town of al-Jeezah in the eastern countryside of Daraa. He worked in media field before the Syrian government retakes Daraa.
He was part of the local team of the Ahrar Horan Gathering, and was documenting violations by Syrian government forces and their bombing of civilian areas, according to the source.
He pointed out that his arrest came during campaign raid and searches carried out by the government forces on the town, where his father and one of his brothers were arrested, but they were released while he was kept inside the prison, due to his activity during the control of the Syrian opposition of the governorate.
Dozens of Daraa residents were killed inside the detention centers of the government forces after they entered the governorate, most of them were dissidents who were arrested after they surrendered to the government in order to benefit from the amnesty, and stipulated that they would not be held accountable if they joined their military units.
Since the government forces re-captured Daraa in 2018, the governorate has been living in a state of insecurity, with one or two daily assassinations targeting soldiers and officers of the government forces, not to mention the spread of thefts.
In 2021, Daraa Governorate went through an 80-day-seige. After that, a number of Daraa’s notables and government forces, with mediation of Russian officers, reached a ceasefire agreement on September 5, 2021, including handing over weapons and deploying governmental security posts in the towns of the governorate.