Media watchdog CPJ demands answers over Syria journalist's arrest
'The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Syrian authorities to disclose the reason for the detention of Kurdish journalist Hassan Zaza, who was taken from his home by security forces to an unknown location early on Friday,' the CPJ said in a statement.
'Syrian authorities must immediately disclose Zaza's whereabouts, ensure his safety, and drop any charges related to his journalistic activities,' the NGO's regional director Sara Qudah said in the statement.
Syria's new Islamist authorities took power after ousting longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December after nearly 14 years of civil war.
The CPJ said that after Assad's overthrow, Zaza had returned to Damascus from northeast Syria, which is controlled by a semi-autonomous Kurdish administration.
According to the group, Zaza runs a news website and had also worked with a television channel that supports the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is banned in neighboring Turkiye — a key ally of the new authorities.
The statement said Syrian information ministry official Mohammad Al-Saleh confirmed Zaza's arrest and told the group that the move was 'related to security concerns and not connected to his journalistic work.'
Saleh was not authorized to share further details because the matter was being investigated, the CPJ statement said.
'If nothing is found, he will likely be released this week,' Saleh said, according to the statement.
Qudah said that Zaza's 'secret detention... reflects a nationwide pattern of press intimidation.'
Assad's December ouster ended decades of his family's rule in Syria, during which press freedom was heavily curtailed and the media became a tool of those in power.
According to the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders, since Assad's toppling, journalists' 'newfound freedom remains fragile due to ongoing political instability and mounting economic pressures.'
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