2024-03-01T19:33:51+00:00
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/ Hundreds of people took part in rare protests against Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) in northwestern Syria, the last stronghold of armed factions in the country, on Friday, following the death of a person who had been in detention for months.
A correspondent for Agence France-Presse reported that “the demonstrators chanted slogans against the leader of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) Abu Muhammad al-Julani, and demanded the release of detainees held by the organization, which is listed on the US terrorism list.”
Dozens of people gathered in the main square of Idlib city, chanting slogans and carrying banners criticizing al-Julani and others reading, “Freedom of opinion and expression is not a crime.”
“We went down to say no to injustice, no to the policies of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, and no to Abu Muhammad al-Julani,” said Abdul Rahman Taleb, 30, who was displaced from Latakia.
For his part, the displaced person from Aleppo, Muhammad Assaf (30 years old), said, “We went out in a demonstration against the policy of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham that is being practiced against us,” noting that “the protesters took to the streets after the crime against the young man who was killed under torture.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that a member of the jihadist faction “Jaysh al-Ahrar” died “under torture in one of the detention centers” of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham on February 23 after being detained for eight months.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham controls about half of Idlib province and adjacent areas in the neighbouring provinces of Aleppo, Latakia and Hama.
The region is home to three million people, nearly half of whom are displaced.
In addition to Idlib city, other areas in the province witnessed protest movements, such as Binnish, Mare’, Al-Atarib, and Killi.