Atef Najib, former security chief in Daraa, (here in the Damascus court) was sentenced to death this Tuesday, Aug. 11. (Credit: AFP)
It's June 11, 2011, and Walid Joumblatt is welcomed by Bashar al-Assad at the presidential palace in Damascus. After the usual greetings and making sure he is under his protection, the Druze leader does not mince words."What happened with Hamza al-Khatib?" he asks the Syrian dictator, who answers immediately, disconcerting his guest: "We killed him, but we didn’t torture him." Joumblatt knows that he has just been lied to his face, as he had previously spoken with the family of the 13-year-old boy. Arrested on April 29, along with about 50 others, after participating in a protest against the siege of the city of Daraa, he would not return to his family until a month later in a bag, his body battered, burned in places, his penis severed, his neck broken. Within days, Khatib would become the very face of the...
It's June 11, 2011, and Walid Joumblatt is welcomed by Bashar al-Assad at the presidential palace in Damascus. After the usual greetings and making sure he is under his protection, the Druze leader does not mince words."What happened with Hamza al-Khatib?" he asks the Syrian dictator, who answers immediately, disconcerting his guest: "We killed him, but we didn’t torture him." Joumblatt knows that he has just been lied to his face, as he had previously spoken with the family of the 13-year-old boy. Arrested on April 29, along with about 50 others, after participating in a protest against the siege of the city of Daraa, he would not return to his family until a month later in a bag, his body battered, burned in places, his penis severed, his neck broken. Within days, Khatib would become the very face of the...
