A cameraman for the Syrian channel Alikhbaria attacked a female protester in Suweida, inspected her identity card and tried to erase a video she had taken of the sit-in, which took place on Oct. 3, 2018, in front of the governorate building.
The cameraman, Mohannad Radwan, rather than being there to record the demands of the parents bereaved by the kidnappings of their women and children, had an an ulterior motive at the Suweida sit-in, and tried to overstep his bounds with some citizens and prevent them from filming.
Hours after the incident, an Alikhbaria correspondent known as Sham Hamdan published a post on Facebook in which he denied the reports that his colleague attacked the woman, claiming that a citizen from the Abou Ammar family had been the one to attack her saying that she was filming from a “hidden angle” and accused her of being a correspondent for the Suweida 24 network.
However the woman who was attacked commented on Sham’s post, saying that the Alikhbaria cameraman had attacked her and had tried to prevent filming and had inspected her identity card. She asked: “You attacked me and demanded my ID, and so I ask you, sir, is it part of your duties to demand my ID?”
She added: “Respect your profession and speak honestly. If you have even half a piece of evidence that I have anything to do with Suweida 24, I wish you would put it forward out of respect for your audience’s intelligence.”
Many citizens commented on the correspondent’s post criticizing what he and his colleague did, saying that they were unfit to be journalists and protect freedom of expression and that they were carrying out their work as part of the intelligence agencies.
Syrian official media did not attend the sit-in of Suweida residents after the biggest tragedy in their modern history — but did they send its staff to terrorize the province’s residents?
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
