Syria TV series slammed for using photo of woman murdered by regime as prop
Syria TV series slammed for using photo of woman murdered by regime as prop
Purporting to show the image of a fictional murder victim, a Syrian television drama used the post-mortem photo of an activist who was murdered by regime torturers.
3 min read
The show features the photo of an activist who was murdered in regime custody [Twitter]
A Syrian Ramadan television series has presented the real photo of an executed activist as a fictional murder victim, a morbid twist that sparked fury on social media.
"A Meeting with Mr. Adam", a drama that revolves around the investigations of forensics specialists, featured a scene where a pair of investigators look into the unsolved murder of a young woman.
One of the characters flashes the photo of the unidentified "victim", which is a real post-mortem shot of Rehab Allawi, an activist who was murdered in regime torture dungeon.
The black-and-white close-up of Allawi's face also includes the piece of paper on her forehead with the branch number of the miliary intelligence facility where she was held.
The photograph of Allawi's corpse is one of many that were smuggled out of Syria by "Caesar", a military defector who was a forensic photographer for Syria's military police.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), Allawi, a Damascus-based activist who assisted internally displaced people, was 25 when she was arrested by military police in 2013.
After her arrest, her family paid over $18,000 to various Syrian officials to obtain information about her and secure her release. Their attempts were fruitless.
"A Meeting with Mr. Adam", a drama that revolves around the investigations of forensics specialists, featured a scene where a pair of investigators look into the unsolved murder of a young woman.
One of the characters flashes the photo of the unidentified "victim", which is a real post-mortem shot of Rehab Allawi, an activist who was murdered in regime torture dungeon.
The black-and-white close-up of Allawi's face also includes the piece of paper on her forehead with the branch number of the miliary intelligence facility where she was held.
The photograph of Allawi's corpse is one of many that were smuggled out of Syria by "Caesar", a military defector who was a forensic photographer for Syria's military police.
According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), Allawi, a Damascus-based activist who assisted internally displaced people, was 25 when she was arrested by military police in 2013.
After her arrest, her family paid over $18,000 to various Syrian officials to obtain information about her and secure her release. Their attempts were fruitless.
Hanadi, a former detainee, told HRW she temporarily shared a cell with Allawi for over three weeks and never saw her again after being transferred.
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"She wanted to see her parents," said Hanadi. "She would always speak about her brothers and sisters. She was scared for her family."
After the Caesar photographs were published online in 2015, Allawi's family recognised her. Due to her changed appearance while in detention, the family asked former detainees who had encountered her for confirmation.
"One day her brother called me and asked me if it was Rehab in the photographs that were published," Hanadi told HRW. "I recognized the pajamas she was wearing, and her face. Even the shape of her toes was the same."
Allawi was the only woman among Caesar's harrowing photographs of detainees' corpses.
Social media users were quick to identify Allawi in the scene, heavily criticising the show for using her photo as a prop for a fictional storyline.
Many saw it as intentional mockery of activists killed by Bashar Al-Assad's forces.
"The Assad regime, which mocks even the victims it killed in detention, uses false stories to throw accusations off itself," said one user.
"Assad's Syrian drama shows [Allawi's] image in a comic manner, presenting her as the unidentified victim of an unknown killer," another tweeted.
"This program is an insult, a mockery of the trials taking place in Assad's henchmen in Germany," stated one user, referring to the first ever trial on state-sponsored torture in Syria.
Two alleged former Syrian intelligence officers went on trial in Germany last week accused of crimes against humanity in the first court case worldwide over state-sponsored torture by Assad's regime.
Many saw it as intentional mockery of activists killed by Bashar Al-Assad's forces.
"The Assad regime, which mocks even the victims it killed in detention, uses false stories to throw accusations off itself," said one user.
"Assad's Syrian drama shows [Allawi's] image in a comic manner, presenting her as the unidentified victim of an unknown killer," another tweeted.
"This program is an insult, a mockery of the trials taking place in Assad's henchmen in Germany," stated one user, referring to the first ever trial on state-sponsored torture in Syria.
Two alleged former Syrian intelligence officers went on trial in Germany last week accused of crimes against humanity in the first court case worldwide over state-sponsored torture by Assad's regime.
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