CNN finds the wrong prisoner in Syria: With a clean jacket in Assad's dungeon

Der amerikanische Fernseh­sender CNN hat bekannt gegeben, dass ein Mann, der in einem zuvor veröffentlichten Filmbeitrag als ein befreiter Gefangener der gestürzten Assad-Regierung in Syrien vorgestellt worden war, von Zeugen als Geheimdienstoffizier des Regimes identifiziert wurde.

Die bewegenden Bilder hatte CNN am 12. Dezember gezeigt. Sie entstanden, als Clarissa Ward, eine Chefkorresponden­tin des Senders, in Begleitung bewaffneter Kämpfer in einem Gefängnis in Damaskus nach dem amerikanischen Journalisten Austin Tice suchte, der 2012 in Syrien entführt worden war und bis heute vermisst wird. In dem Filmbeitrag stoßen Ward und ihre Begleiter in dem Gefängnis auf eine von außen mit einem Vorhängeschloss versperrte Zelle. Nachdem das Schloss durch einen Schuss aufgebrochen war, fanden sich im Inneren einer geräumigen Zelle eine Decke und darunter ein Mann, der sich als Zivilist ausgab.

Er heiße Abdel Ghurbal, so seine Aussage in dem Beitrag, komme aus der Stadt Homs und habe vom Sturz Assads am 8. Dezember gar nichts mitbekommen. Er sei seit drei Monaten eingesperrt, und dieses Gefängnis das dritte, in dem man ihn gefangen halte.

But according to CNN, on December 16, a Homs resident alerted the broadcaster to a photo showing the same man in military fatigues at a desk in an Assad government office. Facial recognition software confirmed the identity of the man from the cell in Damascus with a probability of 99 percent, reports an article published on the CNN website the same day. According to the witness, the man's real name was Salama Mohammad Salama and he was a lieutenant in the secret service of the Syrian Air Force under Assad.

Several residents of Homs then confirmed to the station that it was Salama. Also known as “Abu Hamza,” he controlled air force intelligence checkpoints and was notorious for blackmail and harassment. How the man ended up in the cell in Damascus is unclear, CNN continued, but unconfirmed rumors suggest that his imprisonment was the result of conflicts with superior officers over the distribution of extorted money.

The man's current whereabouts are unknown. According to CNN, the fighters who accompanied Clarissa Ward in Damascus handed him over to the Syrian Red Crescent. When asked, the aid organization stated that a freed prisoner had gone to relatives in Damascus. It is not clear from the report how certain this is Salama alias Abdel Ghurbal.

There have now also been allegations that the recordings in the cell in Damascus were at least partially staged. According to France 24, this accusation was made by a Syrian journalist on Platform X who, among other things, works for the French broadcaster. France 24 also showed images of protests by Syrian women against Clarissa Ward's report on Tuesday. CNN denied all allegations against its reporter in a statement to the newspaper Liberation. The film footage in your article is authentic and not staged in any way.

The process is already extremely embarrassing for CNN if the identity of the man from the cell in Damascus as Secret Service Lieutenant Salama is finally confirmed.

The film footage published by the station alone raises doubts as to whether those responsible for the program had the idea before publication that their reporter might have been caught by a liar. The inmate's far from shabby appearance, as well as the clean, warm jacket he was wearing when Ward and her team encountered him, should have raised suspicions and at least encouraged a more careful presentation of the footage.