What is the real reason for the arrest of loyal journalist Kinan Waqf?

What is striking about the case is not the case of the arrest in a totalitarian country that ranks 174th out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders index of press freedom for 2020, but the contradictory official statements on the one hand, and the kind of accusations that were fabricated by Waqf, in a way that sarcastically Widened stupidity of the officials of the “Syrian State”.

It is possible to monitor at least three charges against Waqf, the first of which is the case of the press investigation into electricity, and the second reported by the newspaper “Al-Wehda” that published the investigation, attributing his arrest to “conducting a car without identity documents, “and the third was cited by the same newspaper with the authority of the Tartous police chief, Musa Hasoud Al-Jasem. Who said Waqf’s arrest was due to “driving a smuggling car and possession of illegal documents in addition to his evasion of military service.”

The newspaper and Al Jasem retracted the last two accusations, after commentators on communication sites indicated that Waqf is exempt from compulsory service in the country because he is “alone”, which means that he has no brothers, according to the Syrian law.

Given this, the newspaper was forced to apologize for the “error” and said that the arrest was due to “a complaint filed against him by Mazen Hammad, in connection with the publication of a press investigation into the governorate’s electricity. of Tartous, in which Hammad’s name is mentioned in the Al-Wehda newspaper, and his personal page on “Facebook”, Hammad’s link to the subject. And corruption in contracts to generate electricity from solar energy “, as he said. As for Al-Jasem, he retracted his accusations and said they occurred “as a result of the similarity in the surname between the waqf and another detainee named Khalil Waqf.”

Here, the “Russia Today” network, an ally of the regime, went online publishing a release and endowment document, and the charges against it were revealed, which are: “insulting the public administration, insulting and insulting the prestige of the state by using the network “, which denies previous lies about the existence of a personal accusation against him, It is also clear from the leaked document that there are sanctions, unless they are disclosed, that will affect the Waqf that promised to implement them as a condition for their release.

The story did not stop here, but was extended to the Ministry of Information, with statements made by Minister Imad Sarah to the semi-official Al-Watan daily on Friday night, in which he said that “as of today, no journalists he will be arrested until the Ministry of Information is informed of the reasons and causes for the arrest. ” He added that “the Minister of Justice communicated with the judges and stressed the need not to arrest any journalist before returning to him, and then coordinate with the Ministry of Information to determine the reasons for the arrest and their obligations.”

Since 2017, Sarah has been speaking personally about a new media law that will “soon see the light of day,” abolishing prison terms for journalists and their arrest, but that law was never issued, especially as it was rejected by loyal activists and journalists. as it grants broad repressive powers to the newly created security services in the Ministry of the Interior. This limits the freedom of expression that practically no longer exists in the country.

What makes Sarah’s recent statements meaningless is the fact that the media law issued in 2012, despite containing many broad red lines, such as harmful state symbols or inflammatory materials and other phrases, also contained an explicit article. which indicates that a journalist cannot be arrested or interrogated, even if he had committed a crime, without informing the “National Media Council” that the regime created during the 2011 law, nor the branch of the Journalists Union to which he is affiliated the offender.