Today, Friday, the Syrian authorities announced the arrest of a former guard at Saydnaya Prison, located north of the capital, Damascus, which non-governmental organizations describe as a “human slaughterhouse,” on suspicion of his participation in executions and transporting dead people under torture during the era of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The Syrian Ministry of Interior explained in a statement on its Telegram account that the suspect, named Mahmoud Ali Ahmed, was detained in Aleppo Governorate “based on an arrest warrant issued by the Public Prosecution” on suspicion of belonging to a “special unit” guarding Saydnaya.
He confirmed that the man “would have been involved in summary executions, transporting the bodies of detainees who died due to torture to be buried in mass graves, and in torturing detainees,” before confirming that he had been placed in the hands of the competent authorities to appear before the court.
Finally, the Ministry affirmed that it “will continue its ongoing efforts to uncover and prosecute everyone proven to be involved in violations to ensure that the weight of the law falls on them.”
Saydnaya was known as one of the main prisons and a center for torture and executions under the Assad regime, which fled the country in early December 2024 due to an attack by jihadists and rebels led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, whose leader, Ahmed al-Shara, is now the Syrian transitional president.
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