Berlin, April 21, (dpa/GNA) – A German journalist missing in Syria for three months, is believed to be detained in a prison in Aleppo, her family’s lawyer said on Tuesday.
Lawyer Frank Jasenski told dpa that “credible reports”, suggest reporter Eva Maria Michelmann, is being held in the northern Syrian city, after she was allegedly wounded during an offensive by the Syrian Army.
“Until now, we only knew that she had fallen into the hands of the Syrian security forces and where that had happened,” said Jasenski, who represents the journalist’s mother and brother.
Investigations by Michelmann’s family and their lawyer suggest she was arrested alongside a Kurdish colleague on January 18 by forces of the Syrian transitional government, and taken away in a car while they were seeking shelter in a youth centre.
She is said to have been working in Syria as a freelance journalist for more than a year.
Detainees released from the Aleppo prison reportedly spotted the Kurdish journalist inside.
“It is a kind of open secret in the prison that a German journalist is also being held there,” Jasenski continued, citing the eyewitness accounts.
The information was immediately passed on to the German Foreign Office, he said, calling on Berlin to press for the reporter’s release following “this first sign of life after months of uncertainty.”
“The Foreign Office now has the opportunity to demand access to her from the Syrian authorities,” said Jasenski.
In response to a dpa enquiry, the Foreign Office in Berlin said it is “continuing to work flat out to clarify the situation.”
The German embassies in Beirut and Damascus are looking into the matter and are in contact with sources, who may have information on the whereabouts of the person, officials said.
Later on Tuesday, sources in Damascus said the Syrian government is investigating the case, and will inform Berlin as soon as details are available.
Kurdish sources said Michelmann was likely in Aleppo, after being detained by an armed group allied with the Syrian government.
GNA