A video clip showing crowds gathering near a crane with a person hanging from it has gone viral on social media. Users sharing the video claim that “Suleiman Hilal al-Assad, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s cousin, was executed in full public view.”
Moreover, several users shared this video and made similar claims. The link can be seen here, here and here
Fact Check
During the investigation, DFRAC found the claim to be false. We found a similar video on the Facebook page ‘حكي حوراني (Hawrani story)’ with the caption: “The execution of the death sentence against ‘Ammar Al-Asaad’ in the public square in the town of Khirbet Ghazala in the eastern countryside of Daraa, for his conviction of carrying out the murder of the young man Mohammed Ziad Al-Hajj Ali.”
Furthermore, we also searched for information regarding the murder of young man ‘Mohammed Ziad al-Hajj Ali’. We found a media report from ‘Daraa24’, published on December 7, 2024, with the description: “Execution of the death sentence against ‘Ammar Al-Asaad’ and ‘Diana’, the wife of the murdered ‘Mohammad Ziad Al-Hajj Ali, Abu Ayser,’ for convicting them of carrying out the murder of the young man ‘Hajj Ali’, after they were arrested following their takeover of the prison in the city of Izraa in the central countryside of Daraa.”
Conclusion
It is evident from DFRAC’s fact check that the viral video depicts ‘Ammar Al-Asaad’ and not ‘Suleiman Hilal al-Assad.’Therefore, the claim made by social media users is misleading.
