Journalists reveal identities after Assad’s fall
Syrian journalists are beginning to reveal their real names, casting aside their pseudonyms following Assads fall. In an interview with Arab News from December 19 2024, Zouhir Masri explains how during Syria’s conflict of 2011, many journalists wrote under pseudonyms to ensure their safety from the regime. For years, speaking out, whether in the form of journalism or protest, meant risking potential imprisonment, torture or death.
Zouhir Masri, formerly known as Zouhir Al-Shimale, stated: “In the past, activists and journalists used to use pseudonyms to cover their identity for safety reasons since most of them, including me, had their family members stuck in Syria and unable to leave.”Here, the need for pseudonyms also applied to journalists living internationally, as although they may be living away safe from the regime, their families may not be.
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Masri stated in Arab News: “Now that Syria is free, lots of people have started to use their real names which were suppressed and kept hidden out of fear of retaliation from the Assad regime’s security forces.”
Masri, fled his home in Aleppo in 2018 is one of many now revealing their true names. This includes important figures such as Malath Assaf of Aleppo today, can now discuss Syrian politics without fear.
Another journalist, Manal Al-Sahwi, who investigated Syria’s Captagon trade and its links to the Assad family, shared earlier this month: “For years, I wrote more than 150 articles in addition to my daily work on the Daraj website. I thought my name would be hidden forever. I worked on dozens of investigations, human rights reports, blogs and opinion articles, believing the truth must be told, even if we remain in the shadows.”Al-Sahwi added her hopes that she will never be forced to write under a pseudonym again.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights estimates that at least 717 journalists were killed at the hands of the regime between March 2011 and May 2024, a further 1,358 were arrested or kidnapped
Although, it was not just journalists who were unable to speak freely during the regime. Citizens were very cautious when sharing their stories with the media, using pseudonyms, blurring faces, and disguising voices during video testimony.
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Following Assad’s fall, these citizens are now feeling a new sense of freedom and power, reclaiming their right to freedom of expression.
Although there are no answers for the future of Syria quite yet, the Syrian people have hope, they are reclaiming their true identities and revealing their truth, these truths kept a secret for the last 12 years.
Arab News
