Syrian intellectual and activist Yassin al-Haj Saleh. (Credit: Maisar Matar)
Born in Raqqa, Syria, in 1961, Yassin al-Haj Saleh is one of the most productive Syrian intellectuals. Arrested at the age of 19 for belonging to the Communist Party-Political Bureau, which was not aligned with Moscow and opposed Hafez al-Assad, he was detained for 16 years, the last in the notorious Tadmor prison. In 2011, he took up the cause of the revolution and went into hiding. In December 2013, his wife, the activist Samira Khalil, was kidnapped with three other human rights defenders in Douma, on the outskirts of Damascus, by an Islamist group. Their fate is still unknown. Around the same time, two of his brothers were kidnapped in Raqqa by the Islamic State. One of them is still missing.In 2014, Saleh went into exile in Turkey before returning to Germany three years later where he still resides. He is one of the founding members...
Born in Raqqa, Syria, in 1961, Yassin al-Haj Saleh is one of the most productive Syrian intellectuals. Arrested at the age of 19 for belonging to the Communist Party-Political Bureau, which was not aligned with Moscow and opposed Hafez al-Assad, he was detained for 16 years, the last in the notorious Tadmor prison. In 2011, he took up the cause of the revolution and went into hiding. In December 2013, his wife, the activist Samira Khalil, was kidnapped with three other human rights defenders in Douma, on the outskirts of Damascus, by an Islamist group. Their fate is still unknown. Around the same time, two of his brothers were kidnapped in Raqqa by the Islamic State. One of them is still missing.In 2014, Saleh went into exile in Turkey before returning to Germany three years later where he still resides. He is one of the founding...
