Pages on social media circulated a report alleging that armed groups affiliated with "al-Jolani" detained a child named Sami Said Hijazi, aged eleven, in the Homs countryside, with claims that he was assaulted and held.
The Kashaf team followed up on the report through field inquiry; the public relations office in the city of Homs told Kashaf that Sami Said Hijazi is 18 years old, not 11 as stated in the posts, explaining that his detention was carried out in accordance with legal procedures over a criminal case, that he was referred for investigation, and that he remains in custody pending completion of the legal proceedings.
Why is this claim misleading?
Distorting the content: The claim relied on understating the detainee's age and portraying him as an eleven-year-old child, while concealing the criminal background of his lawful detention, so as to suggest the arbitrary arrest and assault of a child in order to stir sympathy and mislead public opinion.
