Military factions in Aleppo confiscated and burned distributed copies of a number of Syrian opposition newspapers on charges of supporting the Charlie Hebdo magazine, according to a video broadcast by activists on YouTube.
According to the tape, copies of Surriyatuna, Inab Baladi, Sada ash-Sham and Tamaddud were burned due to their support for the French magazine, which depicted the Prophet Mohammed.
The man in the video – which shows a pyramid of magazines being doused in diesel and set alight – said the magazines were banned under the penalty of accountability.
Surriyatuna responded to the incident by saying "the magazine did not publish any pictures depicting Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) in the issue that has been burned. We did not and will not sympathize with the French newspaper when it takes this position towards religions, and we will not go with the idea of freedom of expression to this extreme, which generates counter extremism. Our sympathy is only against violence which offends us instead of protects us. Why do we find ourselves obliged to explain this again?
“Some people asked us to apologize for any insult toward the reader. We didn’t insult the reader; neither did we insult his beliefs, which we share too. We did not publish what hurts our holy beliefs, that are already the sanctities of all Syrians, and we are Syrians whether those parties like it or not".
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
