Arrest of a Former Syrian Jihadist in France Implicated in the Disappearance of Razan Zeitouneh

A former member of the jihadist group Jaysh Al-Islam, alleged kidnapper of Syrian journalist and human rights defender Razan Zeitouneh, was arrested in France and charged with war crimes. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomes the arrest and the opportunity to fight impunity for crimes against Syrian journalists.

A former spokesman for the Syrian jihadist organization Jaysh al-Islam, Islam Alloush, was indicted on Friday in Marseille. He is suspected of “ war crimes ”, “ acts of torture and complicity ” and “ complicity in enforced disappearances ”.

The terrorist group is responsible for the kidnapping on December 9, 2013 in Douma (Eastern Ghouta) of the famous Syrian journalist Razan Zeitouneh , winner of the 2011 Sakharov Prize for Human Rights, her husband Wael Hamada , but also of their colleagues Samira Al-Khalil and Nazem Al-Hammadi . They have since gone missing. Like them, several hundred journalists and bloggers have been victims of enforced disappearances.

This arrest in France is a first since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011, welcomes Sabrina Bennoui, head of the Middle East office of Reporters Without Borders (RSF). It represents the hope that one of those responsible for the most emblematic case of the forced disappearance of journalists in Syria will finally be condemned. We are counting on the diligence of French justice so that this trial can end the total impunity of the crimes committed in Syria against journalists for nine years. “

This arrest follows the complaint filed against Jaysh Al-Islam members in June 2019 by the partner of Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), with the National Prosecutor’s Office anti-terrorist for acts of torture, kidnappings and executions in eastern Ghouta between 2012 and April 2018. The armed group led a reign of terror in the region, until its defeat against the government of Bashar Al-Assad, who regained control.

Syria ranks 174th in the RSF World Press Freedom Index .

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