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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish man who says he witnessed the capture of German journalist Eva Maria Michelmann by Syrian security forces in mid-January recounted the incident to Rudaw on Monday, expressing his belief that she is currently being held in Syria’s northern Aleppo province.
Jwan Mohammed hails from the Kurdish city of Kobane in northern Syria. He told Rudaw’s Dilbxwin Dara that during the sharp military escalation in mid-January - when Syrian government forces and allied armed groups advanced into areas held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern and eastern Syria - he responded to a general mobilization call issued by the Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria (Rojava).
Mohammed added that he arrived at a Kurdish youth center in northern Syria’s Raqqa province on January 17 with a group of volunteers, where around 200 others had already gathered.
“On January 18 at 10 am [local time], we hosted a German journalist and a Kurdish individual from Turkey,” Mohammed said, noting that the two had “arrived together” and that she was being hosted “as a guest.” At noon that day, “we were surrounded by [armed] Arab [men],” who “told us they had surrounded us and demanded we surrender,” he added.
The Kurdish volunteers and the armed Arab group “engaged in a heavy fight until 3 am [local time],” Mohammed elaborated, noting that the German journalist “was next to me. Ahmed Polad [a Kurdish cameraman] filmed with his camera and published the footage,” and added that “the journalist remained by my side from 12 pm to 3 am [local time].”
According to the eyewitness, Eva Maria was allegedly carrying a gun, wearing a tactical vest, and spoke Kurdish well, however, she “did not really engage in the fighting.”
After 15 hours of fighting inside the Kurdish youth center, the German journalist and the Kurdish fighters agreed to heed a request by Syrian state forces to surrender.
Realizing that Eva Maria did not appear Syrian and could not speak Arabic, the security forces - reportedly supervised by Mohammad Abdul Ghani, commander of internal security in Aleppo province - purportedly separated her before taking her and other armed men into custody, Mohammed said.
He added that he told Syrian security forces he was a civilian to avoid being arrested, expressing his belief that the German journalist is currently being held in a prison in Aleppo city. Mohammed and many others - mostly Kurdish families from Afrin city - were not arrested, he claimed.
Avin Ibrahim, co-chair of the Free Media Association - the primary regulatory body for media workers operating in Rojava - told Rudaw that Eva Maria’s whereabouts have been unknown since her arrest.
“The latest information we have on the German journalist is that she told her colleagues she was being held inside a building with a number of civilian families,” Ibrahim said, adding that “this information was relayed on January 18” and that “her fate has remained unclear ever since.”
Eva Maria’s disappearance has left her family in a state of shock and, even more so, in a period of painful uncertainty.
“We are, of course, very concerned for my sister’s life, but we are also hopeful,” her brother Antonius Michelmann told Rudaw, adding, “We know she was alive when she was abducted, and we want her to return alive as well.”
He further noted that “67 days have passed since we last heard a sound or any sign of life from her,” adding, “We are particularly concerned because the [German Federal] Foreign Office is informed, the federal government is informed, and the Rojava administration is informed; yet the Foreign Office, despite being close allies [with Damascus], has so far been unable to tell us anything regarding my sister’s fate.”
Despite their pain, Antonius told Rudaw that the family is very proud of Eva Maria’s coverage of the tragic events in Rojava.
For his part, Roland Meister, the lawyer for the German journalist’s family, said the German foreign ministry has several options to bring Eva Maria home.
“Several German agencies, specifically the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) - could get involved,” he said, noting that “it should not be forgotten that the German government’s relations with the Syrian government are currently [stable],” and so are Damascus relations with other European Union member-states, he added.
Berlin’s Federal Foreign Office told Rudaw that it is aware of Eva Maria’s case and is in contact with the German consulates in Beirut and Damascus to try to address the matter. However, the German foreign ministry has not disclosed any further details.
For its part, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged Syrian authorities to “clarify the fate and whereabouts” of both Eva Maria and her Kurdish cameraman Ahmed Polad.
“The disappearance of Eva Maria Michelmann and Ahmed Polad in Raqqa raises serious concerns about the safety of journalists working in Syria,” said Joud Hasan, CPJ’s Levant Program Coordinator, in an early March statement by the CPJ.
“Syrian authorities must urgently shed light on what has happened to the journalists, including whether they have been detained, and guarantee their safety,” Hasan added.
In a separate statement, the CPJ said they had raised the matter with Omar Haj Ahmed, director general of press affairs at the Syrian information ministry, via a messaging application. He replied that “the ministry does not have any information about the incident or the individuals in question, and that no one has received any request or taken any formal action.”
Earlier this month, a protest was held in Rojava’s Qamishli city, to show solidarity with Eva Maria and Polad and call for their immediate release.
Mey Dost contributed to this article from Germany.
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