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My name is Wissam and I'm from Syria
I'm a student of Journalism in in my final year in Moscow
The reason why I came to study Journalism
in a country that lacks freedom of press
is that Russia was the only country to give me
a visa after I resigned.
Oh, I forgot to tell you...
I was an officer in the Syrian army
After the Syrian dictator Hafez al-Assad's death,
his son Bashar inherited the power
For that, the Constitution was amended,
in the world's fastest assembly.
The former Constitution demanded
that the minimum age for being president
should be 40 years of age.
They've changed it for 34 y.o.,
the age of Bashar at the time
I realized it was about time to write my
resignation letter and leave Syria
I didn't see my mom for the last 8 years
I was afraid of visiting my family in Syria since
an old friend from the army told me I was wanted
by the Syrian intelligence
they've received a report from the embassy
in Moscow saying I was against the regime
I remembered my father at that point
When I was a kid, he used to say:
“The walls have ears”
By that time, I didn't understand
He lived 79 years in fear.
When I was in the army,
he advised me not to speak
about the regime in front of other officers
When I made fun of his fear for me
“These people are criminals,
he told me:
you didn't see what I saw”
Once, he told me about an event so that
I could understand his uncommon fear of the regime
He told me how the army came and took one
person from each house during the Muslim holiday
of Eid al-Adha, in 1980, in Aleppo
They took around 100 people,
among them children and elderly.
It was a very difficult moment for my father
when he saw his childhood friends lined
against the wall and get executed
These crimes were called Al Mashariqa Massacre,
named after the neighborhood where it occurred
That's how Hafez al-Assad controlled the country
for 3 decades, committing the worse
massacres of these times
The most famous of them was the Hama Massacre
In this city, he killed dozens of thousands
of civilians through shelling
and artillery in 1982
In March 2011, a revolution began in Syria
I realized then that the blood series
started again
The dictator inherited from his father not
only the country, but also his criminality
The difference this time was the will of the people,
which had already changed with the generations
The dictator used all means of intimidation,
such as executions, torture and ***
to eliminate the peaceful protests
He counts on the support of loyal states,
such as Iran and Russia, which provide him with weapons
and hinder international resolutions against him
With the continuous bloodshed, people
decided to take up arms and defend themselves
After the liberation of wide areas in Aleppo,
I decided to go back there where I grew up
and from where I was away for a long time
This is the border of Bab al Salam,
the "security entrance" which leads to Turkey
Bashar’s hired thugs, the “shabihha”,
spent a long time in the region stealing civilians...
The “Shabihha” used these offices
to torment civilians
A bunch of impolite people who got from
the regime the power of making
Syrian people’s lives unbearable
But, thank God for the Free Syrian Army and
free militias, we are finally free!
Peace be upon you!
We entered Aleppo during the night
to avoid the air strikes and snipers
I felt afraid
but my fears spread away
when I saw the first
Free Syrian Army (FSA) checkpoint
Peace be upon you!
Where are you from?
Aleppo
Where in Aleppo?
Al Jamiliyeh
Show me your document
Here it is
Brother, could you show me your document as well?
There are people trying to infiltrate during the night
Ok, ok
Did we arrive in Al Mushat already?
It's Al Mushat!
We didn't realize because it's dark
We are part of your Tawhid Brigade
Welcome!
Honestly, it's because the regime infiltrated
last week and took two of us
Really?
Yes!
Take care in Al Sinaa!
The regime's snipers killed already 4 people there!
So much destruction made it impossible
for me to recognize the streets where I grew up
The smell of blood replaced
the fragrance of flowers
The sound of shelling took the place
of birds singing
The birds, just like Syrian people, either died or ran away
Young people lost their limbs
in savage shelling
I couldn't see any of this on Russian TV
in 2 years of revolution
World history doesn't know anyone
who have killed its own people
and destroyed its own country such as Bashar al Assad
This fool overcame the madness of
Nero burning Rome
And he didn't spare women, children or elderly
This is an innocent 2 y.o. child
“Mig” bomber planes killed her parents
and she was rescued by a civilian
who brought her to a temporary hospital
Cluster bombs are still incubated
There it is... Bombs that didn't explode
It's a danger to every civilian who lives in this building
because inside there are dozens of bombs
It's internationally forbidden to use these bombs
in populated areas
But this criminal regime doesn't make difference
between civilians and militaries
It points to residential buildings just
to force people to leave Syria
This...
We can hear the snipers, who target
anyone that crosses the parallel street
They are based there, to the left
These are residential areas, which were abandoned
because of the air strikes
Assad's snipers are on
the top of the buildings
Anything that crosses their field of view
will be targeted: children, women, and elderly...
Even a dog or a cat!
Now we are in a building in Salah al Deen
area and, because of the snipers,
we are going to cross trough these wholes
The fear of snipers forced these people to flee
They left even their clothes behind
They left everything in the wardrobe and ran away
Here is a sniper shot
Looking down...
Two more shots... And one here, through the glass...
I can't continue, or a sniper
will notice us
This is a kitchen in a residence
They even targeted a kitchen...
There are no terrorists here
It's a peaceful people's home
Can you see him?
I see!
Do you want me to open the curtain a little bit?
No, no, I see it!
That's a mosque’s minaret in front of this house
There it is one of them...
There are many snipers based there
He shoots!
He shoots targeting civilians...
I'm an army deserter
Why did you desert?
Because of the injustice we presenced
Where did you serve?
In Qatana's 10th platoon
Did they order you to kill peaceful protesters?
Yes
Or isn't it true?
Of course, and they gave us pills...
They medicated you?
Yes
And the protesters?
They'd put us in front of the protesters
and told us to open fire
They didn't have permission to pass by
We wanted to protect the people, but
we were only protecting a throne
After all this
I arrived to my uncle's home
I wanted to surprise him with my visit...
But I was the one surprised
The building was already empty
Aleppo is a historical city that the terror
of the regime turned into a ghost city
People abandoned their neighborhoods, leaving
behind piles of pain and destruction
that tears won't eliminate from memory
Did they shoot your leg?
They shot 4 times
4 times!
Russian shots (AK-47)
And what happened to you?
It’s broke! This bone here was
shattered as well...
Yes, and this broke
Was it the Syrian army?
It was Bashar al-Assad's army!
May God heal you!
Who destroyed all this?
It was his bombers and mortars
which invaded the Martyrs' street
We renamed it...
Martyr's street?
We called it this way...
Why Martyr's street?
Because during peaceful protests the regime
opened fire and killed 14 civilians in here
The army sacked us, stole us,
emptied our homes
“Bashar's men passed here”...
This school was used as a prison and headquarters
It was terrible for this neighborhood’s people 0:12:50.270,040,0:12:53.260 “Scud” soviet missiles are sent from
the capital, about 400 Km from Aleppo
Artillery and aviation are the means used to terrify
the remaining population and force it to obey
He attacked us with missiles, cluster bombs,
“Mig” and “Shukhoi” airplanes...
We came here because of Bashar
May he go to hell!
Why are you in this mosque?
Because of the bombings
Did you flee to the mosque because of the bombings?
What's your name?
Kifaa
What?
Kifaa
How old are you, Kifaa?
I'm seven years old
Seven?
Why do you live in the mosque?
They bombed our house
Terrifying the local population
and destroying their homes,
forcing people to flea the homeland:
this is the regime's policy
to try to eliminate the revolution.
The air force is bombing the Northern villages
The air force?
Yes
Might God protect you!
Is your family in Turkey?
Yes