ALBAWABA- On Sunday, December 15, a video went viral on social media showing the arrest of a man by an armed group.
Claims quickly circulated, identifying the man as either the Director of Sednaya Prison near Damascus or Talal Makhlouf, a former general in the regime's forces and commander of the Republican Guard.
The footage depicts a crowd surrounding a vehicle with armed fighters on top. The detained man is assaulted with punches and kicks while being accused of collaborating with security forces.
These claims, shared widely online, gained significant traction and generated hundreds of thousands of views.
To uncover the truth, the Verify-sy team investigated the claim and found it to be false.
Verify-sy contacted a human rights activist from Jableh, Latakia province—who requested anonymity—to verify the video.
The activist confirmed that the person in the footage is Ibrahim Al-Farran, not "the Director of Sednaya Prison" or "Talal Makhlouf." Al-Farran, known by the nickname "Jimmy," was one of the first volunteers to collaborate with the former regime’s security forces.
Activists in Jableh accuse him of participating in the infamous raid on the village of Al-Bayda in Baniyas countryside on April 12, 2011.
Interestingly, Al-Farran’s brother, Ismail, held opposing views. Ismail was an anti-regime activist who joined protests and endured ten years of imprisonment for his activism.
Further investigation revealed that Ibrahim Al-Farran was mentioned in a 2015 article published by Zaman Al-Wasl, titled “What Do You Know About Jimmy? Photos and Names of a New Batch of Jableh Mercenaries.” This article detailed his ties to the regime’s oppressive campaigns.
