After Syria’s new authorities arrested an official who issued death sentences to prisoners under ousted president Bashar al-Assad, photos were shared in social media posts that falsely claimed they showed a prison guard who dressed in women’s clothing to try to evade capture and escape into neighbouring Lebanon. The photos in fact show men arrested in Iraq in June 2023 and September 2024.
“The arrest of a prison guard at the brutal Saydnaya prison, named Ghazwan Mohsen, who disguised himself as a woman, tried to escape to Lebanon,” read part of the Malay-language caption of two images shared on Facebook on January 1, 2025.
The pictures show an individual whose face is blurred dressed in women’s clothing sitting on a sofa, and another person wearing makeup with their hair covered.
Screenshot of the false Facebook post, captured on January 9, 2025
The images were also shared elsewhere on Facebook here and here, as well as on Instagram and Telegram alongside similar claims.
They circulated after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on December 26 that the country’s new authorities had arrested Mohammed Kanjo Hassan, a military justice official who under ousted president Bashar al-Assad issued death sentences for detainees in the notorious Saydnaya prison (archived link)
The Saydnaya complex, the site of extrajudicial executions, torture and forced disappearances, epitomised the atrocities committed against Assad’s opponents.
The Britain-based Observatory added on December 29 that nearly 300 people — including informants, pro-regime fighters and former soldiers — had been arrested in a crackdown on Assad loyalists (archived link).
The images shared on social media, however, show men arrested in Iraq before Assad’s ouster on December 8.
Arrests in Iraq
A reverse image search on Google found one of the falsely shared photos in a news article published by independent Iraqi news agency Baghdad Today on June 7, 2023 (archived link).
Its Arabic-language headline read, “Anbar Police Explain Details of Arrest of ‘Man Disguised as Woman'”.
The article quotes authorities as saying the man had dressed in women’s clothing to pickpocket in crowded places.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the photo as it appears in the false post (left) and in the Baghdad Today news article (right):
Screenshot comparison of the photo as it appears in the false post (left) and in the Baghdad Today news article (right)
A separate reverse image search of the second falsely shared photo led to a clip posted on the X account of Al-Sharqiya TV, a Iraqi satellite channel, on September 21, 2024Â (archived link).
Its caption read, “Al-Rusafa Police arrest a person disguised as a woman to lure taxi drivers to rob them, east of Baghdad”. The clip shows the individual removing the disguise.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the image used in the false post (left) and a corresponding still from Al-Sharqiya TV’s X account (right):
Screenshot comparison of the image used in the false post (left) and a corresponding still from Al-Sharqiya TV’s X account (right)
The Al-Rusafa police also posted about the case on their Facebook page on September 21, 2024Â (archived link).
AFP has debunked other misleading claims that have circulated in the aftermath of Assad’s ouster here and here.
