The family of an abducted 17-year-old girl from the southern Suweida province appears to have executed her kidnappers after a number of bodies were found dumped in the center of the city of Suweida along with the emergece of an execution video.
Suweida residents discovered the bodies of three young men apparently shot to death alongside a written paper saying, "this is the fate of traitors to dignity," and the names of the three accused: Wissam Abou Hamdan, Ehsan Nassar and Hisham Abou Diqqa.
In a video which did not reveal the time or location of its filming, Wissam Abou Hamdan confessed to kidnapping the young woman with the involvement of a group of influential figures in Suweida, including the local leader of the Bustan Association of Rami Makhlouf, who is related to the head of the Syrian regime Bashar al-Assad. Hamdan's confession also implicated officials in the Suweida military security branch in the kidnapping of the girl, Katerin Mazhar.
A statement released by the family of Mazhar said that Wissam Abou Hamdan and Hisham Abou Diqqa had taken the Katerin to a medical supply warehouse in the Mayat al-Turba square in Suweida with the aim of selling her to Ehsan Nassar for body parts.
The fate of the girl is still unclear. No entity has announced her fate so far, while the accused Ehsan Nassar said in a video recording that he had delivered her to the leader of the Bustan Association in Suweida, Anwar al-Karidi.
The Suweida 24 page published a statement from the family of Ehsan Nassar in which it condemned his killing and said the law should prevail in the situation.
Social activists in the province called to open an immediate and independent investigation into the incident and for the disclosure of its results and for those involved to be held to account.
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.