The family of the former spokesperson for Jaysh al-Islam (Army of Islam), Majdi Nehme, known as “Islam Alloush,” announced his hunger strike in his prison in France, in protest against the violations of his legal and human rights, as well as the physical and psychological torture he is subjected to.
The family expressed their displeasure in a statement via their account on “X” on Tuesday, November 5, regarding the French authorities’ continued violation of his legal and human rights, accusing them of practicing physical and psychological torture and depriving him of his basic rights.
The Nehme family emphasized that French appellate courts refuse to consider his case, confirming that his trial has been repeatedly postponed, prolonging his detention and complicating his psychological and physical condition.
The statement added that Majdi Nehme has spent five years in solitary confinement in France, during which he has suffered from strict restrictions, without being allowed even the most basic of his legal and human rights, noting that he suffers from serious health issues due to lack of movement, absence of ventilation, and not being exposed to sunlight.
The statement described what is happening to Nehme as a “formal coup against human rights, calling for action from the French street, so that this case does not become normal and the contagion of such practices does not spread to others who oppose government directions.”
Majdi Nehme’s family mentioned that their son was arrested on suspicions that the French court was unable to prove, adding that these practices represent a politicization of the case and contradict the principles of the constitution and French laws.
According to the statement, Majdi Nehme is treated in prison as a “high-risk prisoner,” requiring him to be monitored around the clock, depriving him of continuous sleep. When he is transferred to court, the streets are closed and the police implement what they describe as “excessive measures as if he were a highly dangerous prisoner.”
The Nehme family’s statement indicated the repeated violent searches using police dogs, confirming that this is considered “a form of unjust intimidation,” in addition to the fact that the search procedures often lead to the loss of his personal belongings.
The statement highlighted “the exorbitant living costs, especially the costs of phone communications imposed on Nehme, as he pays ten times what other prisoners pay.”
To end his hunger strike, Nehme demanded an end to the humiliating body searches that require complete nudity and to be allowed to pray in his current prison or to be transferred to another prison that permits prayer without harassment.
Majdi Nehme is a defector officer from the regime forces, who worked as a spokesperson for Jaysh al-Islam in Eastern Ghouta until 2017, then resigned and moved to Turkey.
In late 2019, he traveled to France to continue his education, only to be arrested about three months later, following a lawsuit initiated by the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, the International Federation for Human Rights, and the French Human Rights League against Jaysh al-Islam.
The indictment, according to the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, included “executions without trial, kidnapping, and systematic torture against men, women, and children, targeting individuals suspected of collusion with the regime and ordinary civilians accused of not strictly applying the Sharia imposed by the group or because they belong to religious minorities.”
The Human Rights Watch (HRW) organization accused the Jaysh al-Islam faction of committing “war crimes” for using detainees as “human shields,” including civilians, by placing them in iron cages distributed in Eastern Ghouta in October 2015.
In November 2023, the defense attorney for Islam Alloush, Raphaël Kempf, confirmed to Enab Baladi that the Paris Appellate Court canceled the procedures taken against his client, adding that he was not guilty of the war crime of hostage-taking and kidnapping, which means he is cleared of the charge of killing Syrian activist Razan Zaitouneh and a group of activists.
Kempf continued that the Paris Appellate Court decided to refer Islam Alloush to the criminal court on charges of complicity in war crimes in Syria between 2013 and 2016.
Majdi Nehme states before the French court that he was merely an “ineffectual” spokesperson for Jaysh al-Islam, which had influence in Eastern Ghouta.
Nehme currently remains in a French prison awaiting his trial, which the special criminal court in Paris has scheduled for April 25, 2025, extending until May 23 of the same year, and he may face a penalty of up to 20 years in prison, according to the French Le Figaro newspaper.