Mohammed al Omar declared that the country is working to rebuild a ‘free, objective and professional’ Syrian media field, as journalists suffered persecution and censorship during Bashar al Assad’s government
The Minister of Information of the new Syrian authorities, Mohammed al Omar, told AFP that he works for a “free” press and pledged to guarantee “freedom of expression” in a country in which the media was muzzled by the previous government. In a Syria marked by more than 13 years of devastating civil war, the minister sought to reassure journalists who worked under the yoke of the deposed but they refused to be “instruments of propaganda”, promising that they would be “called back to their posts”. “There were severe restrictions on freedom of the press and expression under the regime, which practiced censorship. In the next phase, we will work to rebuild a free, objective and professional Syrian media field,” said Omar.
The transitional government was installed by a coalition of rebel groups led by the Islamist movement Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), which on December 8 deposed Assad’s government, ending more than half a century of rule by his family clan. A few hours after the alliance took Damascus, state media that extolled Assad’s glory condemned his “criminal regime”, publishing on social media the three-star flag that symbolizes the 2011 popular uprising against his government. “We are working to consolidate press and expression freedoms that were severely restricted in the regions of the deposed regime,” declared Omar, who was Minister of Information in the self-proclaimed “salvation government” installed by HTS in the former rebel stronghold of Idlib (northwest). .
Clear the image
When pro-democracy demonstrations broke out in 2011, the movement was bloodied, and the rebels who took up arms were classified by authorities as “terrorists”. “We do not want to continue in the same way, that is, with an official press whose objective is to clean up the image of power”, indicated Omar. The new authorities have made several gestures and statements to reassure the minorities of this multi-ethnic and multi-confessional country, as have the Western and Arab diplomatic delegations in . Omar also stated that he wanted to “reduce bureaucracy and facilitate the work of the foreign press”.
Under the previous government, foreign media was subjected to scrutiny, and its journalists had difficulty obtaining visas. “Since the liberation (…) especially in Damascus, we ask that the work of the media continue in the institutions” previously controlled by the previous regime. On December 13, the Ministry of Information published a statement in which it announced the intention of the new authorities to punish “all journalists who were part of the war and propaganda machine of the deposed regime and who contributed directly or indirectly to promoting its crimes.” On Tuesday, the minister spoke to dozens of Syrian journalists to discuss the transition. “We want media that reflect Syrian cultures in their diversity, reflect their ambitions, convey their concerns and serve as a link between the people and the government,” he added in the interview with AFP.
*With information from AFP
Posted by Victor Oliveira
