Pages and accounts on social media circulated a video of Syrian actor Lojain Ismail, in which he claims that his brother was kidnapped and that the kidnappers demanded a sum of money in exchange for his release, before it emerged that he was being held by General Security on a charge of forging his personal identity documents. He also spoke of the cordoning off of the residential area where his family lives in the Mezzeh district, the imposition of a curfew there, raids on homes and the removal of residents, and ultimately the eviction and confiscation of the family home.
The fact-checking team verified the circulating account by contacting the relevant authorities directly to establish its accuracy, and found that the information in the clip differs from reality. The Ministry of Interior explained in an exclusive statement to Kashaf that the brother of the actor had served with the rank of first assistant in the security office of the Fourth Division, and that he was referred to the Transitional Justice Court. These official clarifications contradict the account presented by the actor, which portrayed the case as a kidnapping that ended with the discovery of his detention on a forgery charge.
Why is this claim misleading?
Distortion and falsification of content: The claim relied on presenting the circumstances of an arrest and a referral to the Transitional Justice Court over former service as a first assistant in Fourth Division security within a different account that speaks of a kidnapping and a ransom demand, changing the nature of the incident before the public.
