The man found in a Damascus prison by CNN's chief international correspondent and freed by a Syrian rebel was reportedly a member of Bashar Assad's forces who killed and tortured civilians, according to Verify-Sy, a Syrian fact-checking organization.
Verify-Sy also said the man, who initially gave a false name when he was found, was involved in theft, extortion, and coercing residents into becoming regime informants, and took part in military operations in 2014, when Assad's forces seized Homs from Syrian rebels after a three-year siege.
The prisoner's real name is Salama Mohammad Salama, a first lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force Intelligence.
He was found under a blanket in a prison located at the Syrian air force intelligence headquarters in Damascus by CNN's Clarissa Ward, who helped escort him out of the prison. He initially identified himself as a "civilian father" named Adel Gharbel.
"Despite the purported harsh treatment of detainees in secret prisons, Gharbal 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," reported Verify-Sy, a part of Poynter's International Fact-Checking Network.
CNN has now launched a probe into his identity.
A CNN spokesman told The Telegraph: "We have subsequently been investigating his background and are aware that he may have given a false identity. We are continuing our reporting into this and the wider story."
The spokesman continued: "No one other than the CNN team was aware of our plans to visit the prison building featured in our report that day. The events transpired as they appear in our film. The decision to release the prisoner featured in our report was taken by the guard — a Syrian rebel. We reported the scene as it unfolded, including what the prisoner told us, with clear attribution."
Over 157,000 people were arrested or have forcibly disappeared since the beginning of the Syrian Revolution in March 2011.
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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