Fact Check: Assad’s cousin Suleiman Hilal al-Assad executed publicly? Here are the facts
A video of a public execution has been circulating on social media, claiming to show Bashar al-Assad’s cousin Suleiman Hilal al-Assad being publicly hanged.
By Md Mahfooz Alam Published on 11 Dec 2024 5:45 AM GMT
Claim: The video depicts the execution of ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s cousin Suleiman Hilal al-Assad in public following the fall of his regime.
Fact: The claim is false. The video shows the execution of Ammar Al-Asaad, a common citizen, who was sentenced to death by the Criminal Court in Daraa Governorate.
(Content Warning: This article talks of the execution of people publicly, which some readers may find distressing. Reader discretion is advised.)
After the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, a disturbing video showing a man being publicly hanged went viral on social media. Sharing the video, users claimed that Assad’s cousin Suleiman Hilal al-Assad was hanged in Latakia's public square in Syria.
An X user shared the video with the caption, “Bashar Assad’s cousin Sulaiman Hilal Assad was hanged in Latakia’s public square.” (Archive)
(Note: We have opted not to include the link to the post due to its disturbing content and to avoid further amplification.)
Fact Check
NewsMeter found the claim to be false. The man executed has been identified as Ammar Al-Asaad, a common citizen from the Daraa Governorate in Syria.
A reverse image search of the viral video led us to a Facebook account named Haki Hourani, which posted two videos on December 7 showing the execution of a man from different angles, similar to the now-viral clip. Upon further review of the account, we found two additional videos showing the execution of a woman. The account stated that the man and woman were executed in the public square of the town of Khirbet Ghazaleh in eastern rural Daraa. It identified the man as Ammar Al-Asaad and the woman as Diana, both convicted of murdering the young man Mohammed Ziad Al-Haj Ali. The account also mentioned that Diana was the wife of Mohammed Ziad Al-Haj Ali. (Note: We are not providing links to the videos because of their disturbing nature.)
We confirmed that the viral video and the other videos posted by this account depict the execution of the same person. The outfit and the surroundings seen in the videos are identical.
We also found Facebook posts from other Syrian accounts dated December 7, alleging that Diana Batieh, the wife of the deceased, conspired with Ammar Al-Asaad and facilitated his entry into the house. Ammar then killed Mohammed Ziad Al-Haj Ali by shooting him in the head while he was sleeping on August 11, 2024. The crime was uncovered the next day, and the suspects confessed, leading the Daraa court to issue a death sentence. They were executed in the presence of large crowds at Khirbet Ghazaleh.
The posts also carried a poster bearing the photo and name of the victim in Arabic. We found the same poster in the videos posted by the Facebook account Haki Hourani.
We found the same poster in a Facebook post dated August 24, with the location mentioned as the southern entrance of Khirbet Ghazaleh at Al-Majannah Circle. Further searches led us to Facebook posts from 2020 and 2021 featuring images of Al-Majannah Circle.
Following these leads, we conducted a keyword search and found a report published on December 7 by the Daraa 24 Network, a media outlet that covers news from southern Syria, particularly the Daraa Governorate. According to the report, on November 14, the Criminal Court in Daraa Governorate sentenced Ammar Al-Asaad and Diana to death for the murder of Mohammed Ziad Al-Haj Ali on the night of August 11. They were executed by hanging in the town of Khirbet Ghazaleh.
We also came across two Arabic reports from December 9, which featured a screengrab from the viral video. Both reports stated that the viral video shows the execution of Ammar Al-Asaad, following the ruling by the Criminal Court in Daraa Governorate for his involvement in the murder of the young man Mohammed Ziad Al-Haj Ali, in collaboration with the latter’s wife. The reports also clarified that the video does not show the execution of the ousted Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s cousin.
Conflicting Reports on Suleiman Hilal al-Assad's Death
An Arabic report by Al Bawaba from December 9 stated that Assad’s cousin, Suleiman Hilal al-Assad, was reportedly killed after being shot by armed men in central Latakia city, Syria. However, there has been no official confirmation of the death of Suleiman Hilal, according to another report by Al Mashhad.
NewsMeter cannot confirm the death of Suleiman Hilal al-Assad due to conflicting news reports. However, our investigation found that the viral video shows the execution of Ammar Al-Asaad, a common citizen convicted on criminal charges. We could not independently verify whether he is related to Bashar al-Assad.
