activist

Yassin al-Haj Saleh

ياسين الحاج صالح

Also known as: Ghayath

Journeys

Yassin al-Haj Saleh: 16 Years in Assad's Prison, Then the Revolution Took His Wife

Al-Haj Saleh embodies the tragedy of Syria's secular opposition: imprisoned by Assad for communist politics, he survived to see the revolution, but found himself betrayed by both the Assad regime and the Islamist factions that kidnapped his wife. His writings document the specific mechanisms of Syrian authoritarianism with an intellectual rigor that no outside observer could match.

Biography

Yassin al-Haj Saleh is Syria's most prominent intellectual dissident. He was imprisoned for 16 years by the Assad regime (1980-1996) as a Communist student activist at the age of 19. After his release he became a prolific writer, journalist, and political analyst — the moral conscience of the Syrian revolution. His wife Samira al-Khalil was one of the 'Douma Four' abducted by Jaish al-Islam in December 2013. Al-Haj Saleh himself fled Syria in 2013 after narrowly avoiding capture. His books — including 'The Impossible Revolution' — are the most sophisticated analysis of Syrian authoritarianism written from the inside. He lives in exile in Berlin.

Documentation Status

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Journeys1

Key Facts

Born:1961

Place:Raqqa, Syria

Nationality:Syrian