The Syrian revolution was fought in order to tear down a predatory police state, not to replace it with a replica under a different banner. However, the horrific, blood-soaked dungeons of the Assad era have simply been rebranded under the sleek, corporate security apparatus of the new President, suited and booted Ahmed Al-Sharaa. As dawn broke today, Tuesday, 30 June 2026, my brave friend, the fearless New York journalist Bilal Abdul Kareem, will have spent an agonising 190 days trapped in total darkness, having been stolen away from his family. His crime? He dared to ask the uncomfortable questions that the slick new autocracy desperately wants buried. Bilal is the living, breathing proof that this supposedly transitional administration has resurrected [...]
