In two videos circulating on social networks and authenticated by the site Verify.sy, the minister, a former Islamic judge in the Idlib region then under the control of al-Nosra, supervised the killing of women accused of "prostitution."
The images are chilling. In one video, a man with a thick beard, wearing a chechia and qami, the traditional Muslim dress, pronounces a death sentence “for corruption and prostitution” next to a woman in a black niqab , on her knees. In another, the same man appears next to a woman also in a full veil, on the ground, who implores clemency. A fighter recites verses from the Quran and claims that there is “proof” that she committed adultery and prostitution, thus spreading “corruption on earth” . A third man then draws a handgun and shoots her in the head.
According to the authentication site Verify-sy , the bearded man visible in these two videos, which date from 2015, is none other than Shadi Al-Waisi, the new Minister of Justice in Syria. The latter, a member of the rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) which overthrew the regime of Bashar al-Assad, was at that time an Islamic judge in the Idlib region , where the two scenes take place. One takes place in the town of Maaret Misrin. The woman on the ground, surrounded by fighters, is near a wall with the inscription "Jabhat al-Nosra" or "Al-Nosra Front" , a jihadist group which advocated sharia law, and from which HTS emerged.
"A period that has passed"
Analysis of the footage, comparing the man's features, voice and tone with recent interviews with Al-Waisi, concluded that there was a high degree of correspondence, the Verify-sy website reports. Contacted by Le Figaro, the Syrian Ministry of Justice did not respond to our requests. But a senior official within the new administration, interviewed by Verify.sy, confirmed that the man who appears in the two recordings is indeed Shadi Al-Waisi. This source, wishing to remain anonymous, was keen to stress that these executions were part of an "application of the law at a specific time and place, in accordance with the laws in force at that time." And the senior official emphasized the legal reforms undertaken by the current government. "We want to emphasize that this process reflects a period that we have moved beyond ," insisted this source, considering it "inappropriate to generalize it or use it to describe the current period . "
In fact, this period of 2015 predates the transformation of the HTS rebels, who went from jihadists to nationalists. It was in 2016 that the al-Nusra group, which promotes a society based on the laws of Sharia and wants to establish a caliphate in Syria, decided to amicably break its ties with al-Qaeda. It took the name Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, literally Levant Liberation Organization, abbreviated to HTS. It then followed an opportunistic transformation, as its leader al-Joulani underlined during his first public appearance on al-Jazeera, who justified this change by the desire to "protect the Syrian revolution" and to "remove the pretexts put forward by the international community" to classify the group as "terrorist".
The group thus renounces global jihad, in order to attract international support. From this point on, the HTS can no longer be described as "jihadist" strictly speaking, but remains an Islamist rebel group that advocates sharia law. In the Idelb region, which the group took control of from 2018, Islamic law is applied, but the group cultivates its relations with minorities, particularly with Christians. They are allowed to practice - without, however, ringing bells or displaying crosses .
Since their lightning offensive that led to the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime , the new masters of the country have continued to assert, with great fanfare, that they have changed. Their leader, Abu Mohammed al-Joulani, has abandoned his nom de guerre associated with his jihadist past and uses his real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa, in official statements. He speaks willingly in the media, calling himself above all a "nationalist" , and has swapped the Muslim quami for the suit.
Populations on their guard
The cautious Syrian population, however, remains on guard. On January 2, the Ministry of National Education faced an outcry by announcing, on Syria TV, “changes” to school textbooks. The affected programs, in history, philosophy and religious education, saw the addition of a Quranic verse about “those who provoked the anger” of God and “the misguided” as referring to Jews and Christians. Poems about women and love were also removed. Faced with strong reactions from teachers, parents of students and activists, the government gave up on passing its reform, maintaining only a few changes to the curriculum.
The new masters of Syria know they are being scrutinized by the international community. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, declared on his return from a trip to Syria that he had "sent very clear and very firm messages on our expectations regarding political transition", particularly regarding human rights and respect for minorities.
On social media, other videos have also circulated, showing a man dressed as a Muslim worshipper breaking a statue of the Virgin Mary on the ground. Many Internet users have drawn a parallel between this man and the Minister of Defense of the new government. This connection was denied by a fact-check by Verify-sy, which showed that the video actually dated from 2013 and featured Omar Gharba, a leader of the terrorist group ISIS.
