Syria is lawless. The state is powerless to deter their supporters from stealing and terrorising entire cities.
The X Minority investigative agency obtained a copy of a letter written by some residents of the Christian town of Mahardah to Father Spyridon Tanous. He, in turn, forwarded it to the Grand Mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Osama al-Rifai, in an attempt to address the issue.
Part of the letter:
Muhardeh City- Date: May 24, 2025
We would like to inform you of what happened in the town of Muhardeh on the evening of last Thursday, May 23, 2025, at the Archbishopric House, which is considered a spiritual shrine.
Subject: Concerning the killing of a woman at a Syrian Army military security checkpoint during the Assad regime. The checkpoint was located in the area separating the towns of Muhardeh and Halfaya in 2014 (you can see it on the attached map).
In 2014, during the Syrian revolution, an unfortunate incident occurred at a military security checkpoint between the towns of Muhardeh and Halfaya. A civilian car carrying a man and a woman was shot, killing the woman instantly. To this day, the precise party responsible for the shooting has not been identified, and has the perpetrator not been identified.
Following the incident, NO lawsuit was filed against the city of Mahardah. However, investigations did not yield conclusive results, and no direct accusations were brought against any party.
On May 22, 2025, a delegation representing the people of Halfaya demanded that the people of Mahardah must pay $40,000 in blood money, threatening to take “rights into their own hands” if their demand was not met.
To avoid an explosion, many clerics and some persons from Mahardah met and decided to pay the blood money, despite reservations about the method. It is worth noting that the proper course of action for resolving such incidents must be through the competent judicial authorities, not through tribal settlements or threats of revenge.
It is worth noting that the sessions were marred by extreme tension due to the inappropriate behaviour of some individuals who attended as representatives of the family of the murdered woman from Halfaya. They made offensive statements and explicit verbal attacks against prominent religious figures from Mhardeh, including Bishop Nicola and Father Maan. This was considered a serious violation..
The session included veiled threats, hints of the use of violence, such as the possibility of bombings or targeting residential areas. These statements implicitly incite violence and premeditated murder, and constitute illegitimate pressure to intimidate the attendees and push them to accept the terms of the settlement.
Conclusion:
The X Minority investigative team followed the case, confirming that Syrian state agencies were aware of what was happening and failed to act to stop this grave violation, as there is no judicial ruling against the residents of Mhardeh.
However, the residents’ fear of being subjected to a massacre by those sheltering in power forced them to begin collecting the required amount, under the watchful eyes of state authorities.
