Morhaf al‑Shaer, an independent journalist, fled Suwayda after surviving an abduction, five gunshot wounds and the assassination of his brother amid escalating intimidation by the local National Guard and allied armed factions. The province — dominated by Druze spiritual leader Sheikh Hikmat al‑Hijri and a newly formed Security Office — has seen arrests, forced confessions and public smear campaigns that label dissenters as “traitors.” Recent actions include the detention of 25 people in al‑Qurayya after a pro‑unity statement and accusations that several detainees, including clerics Sheikh Raed al‑Matni and Sheikh Maher Falhout, were tortured and killed in custody. Journalists and activists report being blocked from reporting, threatened, harassed at checkpoints and forced to leave for Damascus or abroad to continue their work safely.

Impact and context

The crackdown intensified after July 2025 violence that left over 1,700 people dead and some 200,000 displaced, a turning point sources say that deepened polarization and curtailed press freedom. Reporters describe unofficial red lines barring criticism of al‑Hijri, the National Guard and local corruption; foreign media requests to film in Suwayda have reportedly been rejected. Many local journalists now work covertly or from exile, while others face social and physical reprisals that have eroded independent coverage and civic debate inside the province. The accounts underscore a sharp narrowing of free expression in Suwayda and growing control of the media narrative by de facto authorities, according to interviews with displaced journalists and activists, as reported by Syria Direct

This story has also been reported by: The Syrian Observer