Syrian released after 39 years from Assad prison as rebels seize Aleppo, Hama: ’Can’t imagine how …’

Syria News: For almost four decades, Moammar Ali has been on a relentless search for his older brother, Ali Hassan al-Ali, who disappeared in 1986. The 18-year-old university student was detained at a checkpoint in northern Lebanon by Syrian soldiers, and since then, his family has been left in the dark about his fate. The recent news of his brother’s possible release has brought a mix of hope and anxiety as Syria’s political landscape continues to evolve.

39 Years of Uncertainty: The Search for Ali Hassan al-Ali

In 1986, Ali Hassan al-Ali, then just 18 years old, was taken into custody by Syrian forces at a checkpoint in northern Lebanon. Since that moment, his brother Moammar has been left without any clear answers, Guarduan reported.

“I went to every security branch in Syria, and there was no place we didn’t visit. We asked about my brother, but the answers were always conflicting,” Moammar recalls. The family received contradictory information over the years, with some reports claiming Ali Hassan was held in prison, while others denied any knowledge of his whereabouts.

For three decades, Moammar’s search took him across Syria, to different prisons and security offices. In the last update he received, he was told his brother was being detained in a military security branch in Damascus, charged with political agitation, the Guardian report added.

However, the onset of the Syrian Civil War and the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad led to a halt in the information flow, leaving Moammar without any news for years.

A Sudden Revelation: Moammar Gets a Picture of a Stranger

The turning point came one Thursday night when Moammar received a flurry of messages from friends and family. The photo they sent was of a man in his late 50s, standing disoriented outside Hama Central Prison in northern Syria. The image was a grainy snapshot, but the resemblance was unmistakable.

“They said he resembled me. I told them: ‘this is my brother!’ The feeling … it’s indescribable. Imagine that I haven’t seen him for 39 years and then all of a sudden his picture is sent to you, how would you feel?” said Moammar, visibly shaken by the discovery.

Ali Hassan, who had entered prison as a young man, was now 57 – a far cry from the teenager who had been arrested all those years ago. “He has come out of prison as an old man,” Moammar added.

Thousands of Prisoners Released Amid Shifting Alliances in Syria

Ali Hassan’s release was part of a broader shift in Syria’s north, where forces led by the Islamist group Hayat al-Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) made significant territorial gains. This movement has seen Syrian government-controlled areas in the north, including Aleppo and Hama, fall into the hands of rebel groups.

In the wake of HTS’s recent military successes, many prisoners held by the Syrian government were set free, including Ali Hassan.

A former detainee, who wished to remain anonymous, explained that many families in Syria were receiving grainy images of their loved ones, circulated via social media platforms like WhatsApp. The sudden rush of information left many desperate to identify whether their relatives were among those released.

“You can’t imagine how it was yesterday; a lot of friends contacted me to ask about my father,” said Jinan, a Lebanese woman whose father was arrested in 2006 after seeking refuge in Syria during the Hezbollah-Israel conflict. “We still have hope, I feel like he’s still alive and I think he will come back and live with us,” Jinan said, explaining her family’s continued search despite years of silence.

Syrian Prisons: ‘Kingdom of Silence’

Syria’s prison system is infamous for its oppressive practices, with an estimated 136,000 individuals detained as of this week. Prisons, security branches, and detention centres have become synonymous with brutal repression, particularly following the 2011 uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Many prisoners were arrested for their political beliefs or involvement in anti-government protests.

Syrians prisons are to many emblematic of the government repression that earned Syria the title of the “Kingdom of Silence”

The vast network of security branches, detention centres and prisons grew notorious for their brutal torture methods, which rights groups said were applied on an industrial scale.