The prisoner CNN escorted out of jail after he was freed by Syrian rebels was actually a notorious member of ousted President Bashar al-Assad’s forces, who tricked the outlet and rebels into helping him, according to a local fact checker.
Salama Mohammad Salama — a first lieutenant in Syrian Air Force Intelligence — allegedly misled rebels and CNN’s Clarissa Ward into leading him out of prison last week in a harrowing video, Verify-Sy reports.
Salama also has a long history of alleged war crimes, the Syrian fact-checking outlet added.
The viral video of the supposed rescue has since drawn scrutiny over key details regarding Salama’s appearance and reaction to the prison break, with CNN now investigating how their reporters might have been duped.
Hiding alone in an empty prison
The broadcast crew stumbled upon Salama in what appeared to be the only locked cell in a secret facility in Damascus that had already been emptied.
The crew, who were searching for traces of missing US journalist Austin Tice, were then asked to turn off their camera while a rebel shot the lock off the cell door.
The footage then shows an empty cell, that appears to be spotless, except for a blanket lying in the corner.
An armed soldier pulls on the blanket, dramatically revealing a man who immediately sits up and holds up his hands in fright.
The man identified himself only as Adel Ghurbal.
Verify-Sy, however, found that there was no record of an Adel Ghurbal in the region — leading the fact-checkers to his true identity.
No signs of torture on him
What stood out to Verify-Sy was the clear lack of injuries on Salama despite his claim that he was locked up in solitary confinement inside the prison at the Syrian Air Force Intelligence headquarters.
“[He] appeared clean, well-groomed, and physically healthy, with no visible injuries or signs of torture—an incongruous portrayal of someone allegedly held in solitary confinement in the dark for 90 days,” Verify-Sy wrote.
Many on social media were also quick to point out his clean-cut appearance when compared to images of other freed prisoners who were disheveled, malnourished and marked with injuries all over their bodies.
No reaction to first glimpse at sunlight in 90 days
Another key indication that Salama was lying was the fact that he did not appear to have any significant reaction to the sunlight when he was escorted out of the prison by Ward and her team.
“[He] did not flinch or blink even when gazing up at the sky” despite having said he had not seen sunlight for three months, the fact-checkers noted.
Who is Salama Mohammad Salama
After his escape from prison, Verify-Sy identified the man in the CNN video as Salama Mohammad Salama, who worked at several security checkpoints in Homs and was involved in theft, extortion, and coercing residents into becoming informants for Assad.
He also killed civilians during the Syrian civil war in 2014 — and allegedly detained and tortured young men on bogus charges, many of whom refused to pay bribes, Verify-Sy reported.
Locals claim he was locked up in the prison where he was discovered for less than a month due to a dispute with a high-ranking officer over sharing the extorted money.
