📰 Damascus Solicitor General Orders Release of Syrian Journalist Iyad Sharbaji

On Monday 15 December, the Solicitor General in damascus ordered the release of syrian/" class="auto-internal-link">syrian journalist Iyad Sharbaji, following a 24-hour detention in the capital. His arrest stemmed from a complaint accusing him of inciting sectarian strife. Sharbaji, in a Facebook post, stated he would later provide a detailed account of the circumstances surrounding his detention. He noted that the prosecutor had dismissed the charges as baseless and without merit. as per Sharbaji, the detention might have been extended by another day had he not presented compelling arguments and evidence during a one-hour confrontation with the Solicitor General. He also remarked that the legal framework governing such proceedings remains largely unchanged from the era of Bashar al-Assad.

Furthermore, syrian security troops detained Sharbaji on Sunday 14 December, after he appeared for questioning at the Criminal Security Department in Damascus. The arrest followed a lawsuit filed by lawyer Rashid Abdul Jalil, who accused Sharbaji—alongside actor Jalal Shamout—of defamation, slander, inciting sectarian tensions, and threatening national unity, as per information obtained by Enab Baladi. The lawsuit was triggered by Sharbaji’s publication of a video that the complainant asserted constituted a direct and explicit attack on a segment of the Syrian population, particularly the generation that came of age in Idlib Governorate during the years of the revolution. Sharbaji firmly rejected these allegations. He clarified that his remarks were not directed at Idlib or its residents, but rather at a generation raised there—comprising individuals from various Syrian provinces—who matured in extraordinary circumstances.

His comments, he argued, were intended to prompt discussion on the long-term effects of that environment. Lawyer Rashid Abdul Jalil maintained that Sharbaji’s statements, made by a public figure of influence, amounted to an unjustified insult to Syrian citizens and a disregard for the context in which they were raised. He called for Sharbaji’s referral to the judiciary and the opening of a public security case against him. Iyad Sharbaji, who resides in the United States, is known for his opposition to the former Syrian administration and his criticisms of religiously framed state structures. He recently returned to syria/" class="auto-internal-link">syria to mark the first anniversary of the country’s liberation.

Just days prior to his detention, he appeared on Syria TV’s On the Table programme, where he praised the emerging space for freedom of expression. Sharbaji was a founding member of the Syrian Journalists Association in 2012 and played a key role in launching The…