Accounts on social media circulated a video claiming it showed MP Mohammad Balaas driving a luxury car accompanied by several modern vehicles in a motorcade.
The fact-checking team contacted MP Mohammad Balaas directly, who said the clip was filmed as he entered the city of Maarat al-Numan in the Idlib countryside, where a number of members of his clan accompanied him in their vehicles because he belongs to one of the large clans in the area, and he explained that the car he was driving is not his but belongs to a friend.
Why is this claim misleading?
Inaccurate interpretation: A scene of several people accompanying the MP as he entered the city was presented as proof that he owns a luxury car and a private motorcade, whereas the clip proves no such thing, in order to suggest displays of wealth and influence that reality does not support.
