LONDON: Bakr Qassim, a Syrian journalist who works for Agence France-Presse and other news agencies was detained by pro-Turkish forces on Monday afternoon in Al-Bab, a city in northern Aleppo province, his wife and human rights groups said.
He was arrested while traveling by car with his wife, Taha, after covering an event. UK-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Qassim was dragged from the vehicle and beaten while demanding to know why he was being detained.
He was presented with “a number of charges, including preparing press reports for several parties,” the organization said as it called for his immediate release and for “respecting freedom of opinion, so that Syrians can enjoy democracy and justice.”
The observatory said Qassim was arrested by “Turkish intelligence and (local) military police” in the village of Hawar Kilis, close to the border with Turkey. His wife was detained by the military police for two hours before she was released following protests from journalists and residents. She said their home was searched and their phones confiscated, along with her husband’s computer and cameras. Qassim’s present whereabouts are unknown.
The observatory said the arrest is part of a wider crackdown against journalists and other media workers in Syria.
Abdurrahman Mustafa, the head of the interim Syrian government that administers the area in which the journalist was taken, told AFP if the arrest was “linked to freedom of the press, it would be examined and dealt with as quickly as possible.”
Qassim has worked for AFP since 2018, reporting on the civil war in the country. He also covered the deadly earthquakes in February 2023 that hit parts of southern Turkey and northern Syria, in which he lost 17 members of his family. He has also worked for Turkey’s official Anadolu Agency and Syrian media organizations.
“We call on the local authorities in northern Syria to immediately release our correspondent … and allow him to return to work freely,” said AFP’s global editor-in-chief, Sophie Huet.
Journalists and activists in northwestern Syria said they were planning to stage a protest on Tuesday night calling for the release of Qassim and other journalists and activists they said have been arbitrarily detained, including activist Karam Kellieh, who was arrested two months ago and whose whereabouts remain unknown.
Northwestern Syria is the last rebel bastion in the war-torn country. Idlib province is under the control of Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, which formerly was linked to Al-Qaeda, while northern Aleppo province is under the control of Turkish-backed forces.
