Investigation Reveals Viral Footage of Freed Women and Babies from Sednaya Prison Was Fabricated

A viral video that took the internet by storm following the removal of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been debunked as fabricated by the Syrian fact-checking group Verify-Sy.

The video depicted frightened women and children allegedly being released from Sednaya Prison. However, Verify-Sy’s investigation revealed that the footage was actually of women and children from the Dafa Organisation, a Damascus-based children’s charity supporting those without family care.

According to Fidaa Daqouri, chairwoman of the Dafa Organisation, armed rebels attacked the center on the night of the regime’s fall, forcing the women and children to leave, as seen in the video. The attackers also stole buses and batteries belonging to the organization. Daqouri has called on Syria’s de facto new rulers to investigate the incident and hold the perpetrators accountable. She has denounced the spreading of this misinformation as “unacceptable”.

In the video, a woman is heard telling the man instructing them to leave, “These girls are in my charge,” raising doubts about claims the footage was from Sednaya Prison. Further evidence provided to Verify-Sy upon their request, confirmed the video’s location was not Sednaya Prison, as seen in a separate video of the same area.

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