On Saturday, July 8, the information ministry of Syria announced the cancellation of the BBC’s accreditation due to “misleading reports”. The accreditations of an unknown BBC correspondent and cameraman have been revoked as a result of “subjective and false information and reports” on Syria, according to a statement on the information ministry’s website. Other BBC reports have been termed as “politicised.”
The BBC Radio correspondent in Syria’s accreditation was also revoked, according to the ministry.
According to the information ministry, the BBC has “from time to time provided subjective and fake information and reports about the reality” in Syria since the conflict began in 2011. More than 500,000 people have been killed, millions have been displaced, and much of the country’s infrastructure and industry have been destroyed during the conflict.
The ministry statement further stated that BBC was cautioned “more than once, however, the British broadcaster continued to air its misleading reports founded on statements from terrorist entities and those hostile to Syria”, the ministry stated further stated.
The statement said that “as a result of the channel’s failure to adhere to professional standards and its insistence on providing politicized and misleading reports to world opinion”, the Ministry of Information decided to revoke the accreditation of the channel’s correspondent and cameraman in Syria, and also to revoke the accreditation of the BBC correspondents in Syria.
Responding to the development, the BBC said it provided impartial, independent journalism. “We speak with people across all political spectrum to get the facts. We will continue to provide unbiased news and information to our Arabic-speaking audiences worldwide,” a BBC spokesperson told Middle East Eye.
Syria’s government and other authorities place strict restrictions on media coverage and require accreditation and permission to report.
Is the Assad family “directly” involved in the Captagon trade?
Last month, the BBC published a report claiming “direct links” between the trade of an amphetamine known as Captagon and President Bashar al-Assad’s family, as well as the Syrian military. Syria has denied any involvement in the Captagon trade.
Notably, the United States, Britain, and the European Union have laid blame on Syria’s government for Captagon’s production and export, mentioning the president’s brother and commander of the army’s Fourth Division, Maher al-Assad as a key figure.
Captagon is a highly addictive amphetamine-type drug that is primarily produced in Syria and extensively smuggled throughout West Asia. Over the years it has been claimed by the media that al-Assad, his associates, and his family have profited from the drug’s sales, which are estimated to be worth several billion dollars per year. The pills have become a lifeline of sorts for them as Syria is faced with an economic crisis ongoing since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011.
In May this year, the Arab League voted back Syria to its fold after a suspension of over ten years.
“In July 2022, the headquarters of Raji Falhout, the leader of a regime-allied militia, were overrun by a rival group in the southern Syrian city of Suweida. They found bags of what appeared to be Captagon pills, as well as a machine that could be used to press pills, Falhout’s Syrian military ID card, and an unlocked mobile phone,” a BBC report published on June 27 read.
BBC claimed to have accessed the WhatsApp messages exchanged between Falhout and one Lebanese named Abu Hamza regarding the pill-pressing machine. Abu Hamza was reported to have been identified as Hussein Riad al-Faytrouni linked to Hezbollah. Hezbollah is known to be an ally of the Assad government.
History of Captagon
Fenethylline hydrochloride, also known as Captagon, is a drug that was first produced in West Germany in the 1960s and is used to treat depression, narcolepsy, and attention deficit disorder. Due to the drug’s addictive properties, it was outlawed in the 1980s, but soon after, counterfeit Captagon pills started to appear in several Middle Eastern nations.
Captagon has been used by ISIS terrorists over the years for enhanced abilities like increased alertness and suppressed appetite during wars. Illegal manufacturing of Captagon probably combines multiple highly addictive stimulants with compounding effects into one harmful little pill, as opposed to just two primary ingredients used in Captogon produced in the 1960s. These illegally produced Captagon has the potential to permanently alter the brain circuitry that controls impulse control and judgement, impairing one’s capacity for reason and rational thought.
