A message from Jalal Naqrash on his Facebook page to the Syrians:Yesterday, my 19-year-old son and his friend were beaten and abused by members of the General Security at a checkpoint on the Mezzeh highway in Damascus, a week after he arrived in Syria to visit family, as he studies in Spain. The incident occurred because he and his friend were wearing shorts in the car driven by my son’s friend after finishing exercising at a club in Damascus. My son was able to contact his mother in the first moments of stopping them at the checkpoint and inform her of what was happening, which prompted her to head immediately to the checkpoint. She was surprised by the large number of security personnel gathered at the scene. When she tried to approach her son, they prevented her, verbally interrogating her and firing shots in the air and on the ground to intimidate her and keep her away from her son. They threatened to disappear the children forever. The children were then transferred to a security agency. My wife followed up on the matter and entered the security branch. The officials received her respectfully and explained to her that there is no law prohibiting the wearing of shorts anywhere, and that houses and cars She has her sanctities…Thank God, things went smoothly without any escalation. The two boys were taken to the hospital for the necessary tests to ensure their health. My son was deported from Syria this morning.
