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00:00Well, what's happening right now here on the Mayadiz Square, which is really the center
00:03of Damascus and also a symbol of the Assad regime.
00:07Around this square you have the public TV, public radio, as well as other major administrations.
00:12And indeed tonight, and this is what people have been telling me, they say it is our first
00:17night of freedom after 55 years.
00:20People telling me that they can walk around, say what they want, think what they want,
00:24and that they're extremely happy.
00:26One man telling me that for as long as he could remember, this square was simply silent,
00:33just cars going around.
00:34It was guarded 24-7 by soldiers, by policemen, by the muhabarat, the intelligence services,
00:42and that basically it was a place where you would pass but not stop.
00:45Well, tonight people of Damascus have stopped.
00:48They are celebrating.
00:49They're enjoying themselves.
00:51And indeed they are having, well, a real celebration for this change because it is
00:58in fact the first night where there is no curfew since Bashar al-Assad has fallen from
01:03power.
01:04So one can expect, of course, celebration, an element of party time in inverted commas
01:09as to what is happening around you.
01:11But of course, at the back of all that, there must still be the sense of what happens next.
01:15Yes, there is an interim prime minister, but apart from that, are other things starting
01:19to take shape, James?
01:20Can you give us any sense of that?
01:26Well, indeed, yes, there is a new prime minister that's been appointed.
01:29The cabinet is to follow shortly.
01:31It is ongoing as we speak.
01:34And of course, well, when you ask people what they think of this new prime minister, this
01:38new transition government, well, they will tell you, you know, it's only until March.
01:42That's the first thing they say.
01:43And the second thing is they say, look, to be honest, we're not that bothered.
01:47Most people have told us, look, it cannot be worse than what we went through under the
01:51Assad rule.
01:53So they are all telling me that basically they want to trust, in a way, Ayatollah al-Sham
01:58and their men.
01:59They want to see how it goes.
02:00One man was telling me that what he wants overall, everything, is an opposition.
02:05He said, you know, in a democracy, you have a ruling party and you have an opposition
02:08that keeps it in check.
02:10And he says, you know, then power changes hands.
02:12And this is what we need and what we want here.
02:14Now, of course, what we are seeing here is that we're seeing Ayatollah al-Sham take control
02:19of the city.
02:20You have militiamen pretty much everywhere now in town.
02:25And just two minutes ago, speaking to one of them, one who'd actually taken part in
02:29the liberation of the prisons here in Damascus, and he was telling me, look, you know, I'm
02:33tired of fighting.
02:34I do not want to bear arms any longer.
02:37I've done my task, my job.
02:39What I want now is for Syria to move on, to be more peaceful.
02:44And he said, right now, yes, we are deployed across the city with our assault rifles.
02:49But the objective is for us to disappear and, you know, leave this space to a police force,
02:56a civilian force, in order to secure the lives and goods of the Syrian people.
03:04So very much already thinking about trying to take the fighters off the streets and transform
03:11this government, this authority that's come down from the north into something more civilian.
03:17And it's true that people are also saying that what they're listening to, what they're
03:20hearing, one man was telling me, look, al-Julani spoke to us and said we mustn't, you know,
03:26ask women if they want to wear the veil or if they're forced to wear the veil.
03:30He said, you know, we are hoping that they will keep that promise and that it will stay
03:34an authority that will be more open to minorities and, indeed, democratic.
03:41Indeed, talking the talk, it sounds, so far, extremely positive, doesn't it?
03:47Now, Abu Mohammed al-Julani now wants to be known by his actual real name, Ahmed al-Sharaa,
03:52al-Julani being his nom de guerre, if you like.
03:55He wants to sort of revert to his actual birth name.
04:00Nonetheless, his words today regarding those who took part in torture and killing of detainees
04:05are extremely harsh and extremely hard.
04:07There is clearly going to be this element of revenge about what happens next in Syria.
04:16Yes, of course, that is what everybody's worried about.
04:18And it's true that today with the crew, with Julie Dungelhoff and Sophia Amara, we went
04:23to visit one of these prisons, an infamous prison here in the city of Damascus, which
04:30is known as the Centre Palestine, which is one of the HQs, if you will, of the muhabarat,
04:38the security apparatus of Bashar al-Assad.
04:43What we saw there was, indeed, rather frightening.
04:45Now, it is a sprawling underground complex with cell upon cell in a maze of corridors
04:53where we could enter the cells.
04:55We saw, you know, just blankets on the floor, dozens of them, which shows you how crowded
05:00the system is.
05:02Just one toilet for one whole large cell and basically dire conditions, dire conditions.
05:08You could see pots on the floor with urine in them.
05:12The stench was very difficult to bear.
05:14And then we also saw another part of the building where there were underground cells, which
05:19are known as the tombs, which, indeed, are only about three metres squared, that don't
05:25have any windows, just have a small hole in the ceiling for air and a door that is completely
05:31opaque.
05:32And inside, you can see the drawings that were made by the prisoners as they were trying
05:37to count the days and nights through the light that came on and off, the little sunlight
05:42that came in these little holes in the ceiling.
05:45So, yes, that was a real, you know, testimony to the violence and the fear and the terror
05:51that was instillated in people under the Assad regime.
05:55And that, of course, is what people are celebrating here, the end of that oppression.
06:01James Andre in Damascus.