Pages on social media circulated a report claiming that members of the "Al-Mitouneh" checkpoint affiliated with "Syrian General Security" severely beat a citizen from As-Suwayda Governorate and confiscated a gallon of gasoline from him, alleging that the checkpoint practices systematic extortion against residents and travellers and repeatedly imposes levies on them.
The Kashaf team checked the claim by contacting its correspondent in the area, who explained that the incident relates to the thwarting of a fuel smuggling attempt, via a tank with a capacity of three thousand litres hidden inside one of the buses.
According to the correspondent, the checkpoint members' dealings with the vehicle's driver were limited to questioning him about the incident, before he was released without being beaten or harmed, contrary to what was stated in the circulated account.
Why is this claim misleading?
Distortion of content: The circulated account did not match the details of the actual incident, which, according to Kashaf's correspondent, concerned the seizure of a smuggled fuel tank inside a bus and the questioning of its driver before his release without any assault.
