After the new Syrian authorities arrested an official who had sentenced prisoners to death under ousted president Bashar al-Assad, photos were shared in social media posts that falsely claimed to show a prison guard dressed as a woman to try to escape arrest and escape into a neighbor. Lebanon. The photos actually show men who were arrested in Iraq in June 2023 and September 2024.
“A prison guard arrested in the brutal Saydnaya prison, named Ghazwan Mohsen, who disguised himself as a woman, tried to escape to Lebanon,” read part of the Malay language caption. of two images shared on it. Facebook on January 1, 2025.
The photos show an individual with a blurred face in women's clothing sitting on a sofa, and another person in clothing with their hair covered.
A screenshot of the fake Facebook post, captured on January 9, 2025
The images were also shared elsewhere on Facebook here and hereapart from Instagram and Telegram along with similar applications.
They circled after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on December 26 that the country's new authorities had arrest Mohammed Kanjo Hassan, a military justice officer issued under President Bashar al-Assad issued death sentences for detainees in the notorious Saydnaya prison (archive link)
The Saydnaya center, a site of extrajudicial executions, torture and enforced disappearances, reflected the atrocities committed against Assad's opponents.
The British-based Observatory said on December 29 that nearly 300 people – including informants, pro-race fighters and veterans – had been arrested in a trial. crack on Assad loyalists (archive link).
The images shared on social media, however, show men who were arrested in Iraq before Assad's ouster on December 8.
Arrested in Iraq
A reverse image search on Google found one of the falsely shared images in a news article published by the independent Iraqi news agency Baghdad today on June 7, 2023 (archive link).
Its Arabic headline read, “Anbar Police explain details of 'Man Disguised as Woman' arrest”.
The article states that authorities said the man had donned women's clothes to pickpocket in crowded places.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image as it appears in the fake post (left) and in the Baghdad Today news article (right):
A screenshot comparison of the image as it appears in the fake post (left) and in the Baghdad Today news article (right)
A separate background image analysis of the second wrongly shared image resulted in a a fragment posted on the X account of Al-Sharqiya TV, an Iraqi satellite channel, on September 21, 2024 (archive link).
Its headline reads, “Al-Rusafa police arrest a person disguised as a woman to lure taxi drivers to rob them, east of Baghdad”. The clip shows the person removing the clothes.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image used in the fake post (left) and a corresponding still from Al-Sharqiya TV's X account (right):
A screenshot comparison of the image used in the fake post (left) and a corresponding photo from Al-Sharqiya TV's X account (right)
The Al-Rusafa police also posted the case on their part Facebook page on September 21, 2024 (archive link).
AFP has debunked other false claims that have circulated after Assad's ouster here and here.
