Al-Kassem was freed one week after his arrest, local media reported without providing further explanation. 

Journalist al-Kassem was arrested by local Syrian police force, on 26 August and transferred to Turkish intelligence custody in the Hawar Kilis area, on the Syrian-Turkish border, according to his wife, al-Taha, and the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). Turkish-backed local authorities seized the journalists’ telephones, confiscated al-Kassem’s computers and cameras, and searched their house. 

Syrian journalists took to the streets to protest at the forced disappearance of al-Kassem and other arbitrarily detained journalists and activists on 27 August in the northwestern city of Idlib, a Syrian region controlled by Türkiye-backed factions. 

The IFJ affiliate, the SJA, reported that it tried to contact the relevant authorities to inquire about the journalist and clarify his situation, but it did not receive any positive response. In a statement issued following al-Kassem’s arrest, the union reminded that journalists should not become a target for carrying out their professional duties and urged the authorities to immediately release their colleague. 

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “We welcome the release of our colleague al-Kassem, who was forcibly disappeared for one week without further explanation. The IFJ calls on the Turkish and Syrian de facto authorities to stop intimidating journalists and to ensure that media workers have the right to work safely without fear of being arrested or assaulted.”