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Khani Speaks of Pressure over His Criticism, Calls on Sovereign Fund to Be Transparent
Syrian actor Mustafa al-Khani issued a public message to the sovereign fund, describing pressure he says he faced over his criticism and calling for the disclosure of any assets or interests allegedly linked to him.
Al-Khani said that in September he received a call from an official at one of the ministries, who asked him to delete a post criticizing a minister’s performance and warned of possible “repercussions” if he refused. He described the call as an attempt to pressure him over his views.
He added that a joint patrol involving several bodies, including the Ministry of Defense, the sovereign fund and security forces, later visited him and asked him to provide documents proving ownership of his home. He called on the fund to publicly disclose to Syrians any assets, gifts, interests or benefits he may have received from the former regime, if any.
Responding to previous photographs of himself with officials and figures from the former regime, al-Khani said his meetings were related to his artistic, cultural and humanitarian work. He said he had used his connections at the time to help address injustices against several people, adding that, according to his account, he helped overturn death sentences for 11 people and secure their release from prison.
Al-Khani criticized what he described as the continued practice of “exclusion” in different forms, saying he had no objection to criticizing mistakes, regardless of who made them. He also reaffirmed his commitment to freedom of expression, citing a post he wrote after his release from prison in 2017: “I have never stayed silent about a wrong, and I will not stay silent about one for as long as I live.” He said he was prepared to face the consequences of his positions.
