For the First Time: Syria’s "Caesar" Reveals His True Identity

ARK News.. For the first time since leaking thousands of photos exposing crimes committed by the former Syrian regime against detainees, the whistleblower known as “Caesar” has revealed his true identity following the regime's downfall.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera’s “Beyond the Story” program on Thursday, February 6, 2025, Caesar was identified as First Warrant Officer Farid al-Mazhan, the former head of forensic documentation at the Military Police in Damascus.

Al-Mazhan, originally from Daraa in southern Syria, smuggled out thousands of photographs documenting the systematic torture and execution of detainees in the regime’s prisons before fleeing the country in 2013.

The Impact of the Caesar Act

In December 2019, the U.S. Congress passed the Syrian Civilian Protection Act, imposing economic sanctions on the former regime and its associates. The law was named the Caesar Act in honor of Al-Mazhan’s efforts in exposing the regime’s atrocities.

In his first interview since defecting, al-Mazhan confirmed that orders to document and photograph detainee executions came from the highest levels of authority, ensuring that the killings were systematically carried out.

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