De-facto leader says new Syria will be defined by forgiveness and amnesty

In a 15-minute interview with filmmaker Joe Hattab, Sharaa said that the revolution was now over, and that the focus would be on building state institutions.

“A revolutionary mindset cannot build a country,” he stated, adding, “The revolution is characterised by agitation and reactionary behaviour, which may work for overthrowing a regime, but is not suitable for building one.”

“That’s why I say today that, for us, the revolution is over.”

Sharaa’s Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group led the surprise rebel offensive in December that toppled President Bashar al-Assad’s government in a matter of days.

He said that while the Syrian revolution would be cherished and celebrated, a different mentality was needed for the country’s new phase.

As part of that approach, he reiterated several times that there would be forgiveness and amnesty – except for perpetrators of mass, systematic crimes.

“Damascus has returned to the international stage. We have repositioned a country that once disturbed the entire world.”

“Today we have restored the foundations of this civilisation and returned it to its strategic, political, economic and social standing. So you cannot waste this great opportunity just to take revenge,” he added.

Sharaa said that the rebels had announced an amnesty following their victory to avoid bloodshed and repeating the mistakes of the past. Following major battles, he noted, the right to revenge is often “relinquished”, except in certain cases.

The cases he singled out in the Syrian context were officials in the notorious Sednaya prison, heads of security branches who tortured people, and those who massacred and dropped bombs on civilians.

“Justice must be sought through the judiciary and the law,” he stated, pointing out that everyone’s rights would be guaranteed, including both victims and offenders.

“If matters are left to revenge, the law of the jungle will prevail.”

Sharaa said that decades under the rule of the Assad dynasty had led people to distrust each other, and work would now be done to help people live together in harmony.

“People used to live in suspicion and fear of one another,” he continued, adding, “Now people can trust each other again.”

“Anyone can express their opinion freely, as long as they don’t break the law, damage public property or disrupt social life.”

He stressed that in areas that had been considered strongholds for Assad’s forces, people did not flee following the rebel offensive. Rather, he said, more people moved to those areas.

“No one fled from those areas. Not a single Muslim, Christian, Kurd, Alawite or Druze,” he said.

“The battle was marked by mercy and reunited families, so how could people not be happy?”

Sharaa vowed to protect everyone’s rights “even if it costs me my life”.

Elsewhere during the interview, the de-facto leader added that he believed that within two years, only around one to 1.5 million Syrian refugees around the world would remain outside of Syria.

He noted that under the previous government, Syria’s passport had become one of the weakest in the world, despite being one of the most expensive.

“God willing, the Syrian passport will have significance in a few years,” he said, adding, “What pained me the most was seeing people scramble for passports and how badly they were treated at airports.

“Syrians felt inferior to other nationalities because a citizen’s strength comes from their country’s strength.”

Now, he stated, Syrians felt pride and respect from others around the world.

He added that wars fought by oppressed people had rarely succeeded over the past century, but Syria had written “a new chapter in history”.

“We fought a war of the oppressed with no resources, and yet we managed to get our rights back, because rightfulness is far stronger than falsehood.”