Abdul Aziz Al-Khalifa, Baladi News
"AFP" news agency's correspondent in Syria was severely beaten by one of the thugs in the city of Damascus following an argument between the two which happened after he refused to pay the high fare that reached 500 SYP (1$).
According to the description of the agency's correspondent, the taxi driver who was wearing a military uniform and holding a gun cursed and badly battered him and dropped him near one of the regime's military checkpoints inside Damascus. Furthermore, when he said he is a journalist, he was insulted and his profession didn't pay off.
"Maher Moa'nes", who has worked with a number of pro media outlets, most notably "Sham FM" Radio station, which is considered among the first thuggery institutions for the regime, has become a correspondent to AFP News agency since 2015, which reports a lot of news in favor of the regime's point of view and vision. According to Maher , the Syrian revolution is an evolution to the demonstrations against the government, which converted later to an armed conflict with ISIS!
It's unknown if Maher, who is defending a regime that represent democracy and secularism through AFP, is able to prosecute the thug who battered and insulted him with the agency he works for, or if he is able to just point a finger of accusation against him. It's also unknown if the AFP agency itself is able to protect or defend him in the regime's areas in spite of the great services Maher provides to the regime, as he is using them to deliver all the messages he wants through prestigious media outlets, making him able to use such media to guide the international public opinion, especially in Europe.
Strangely enough when a correspondent of a prestigious agency suffers assault and humiliation and his institution stands hopeless in reporting the situation in one of its news or reports or even lodging a complaint against the Syrian government or a demand to protect journalists in the regime's areas, while assigning an entire episode of its programs to talk about what is happening to journalists by factions subservient to the rebels.
The double standard policy pursued by the western media towards the violations against journalists in Syria is now deeply unfolding in this incident. Despite the correspondent's absolute supporting to the regime and his endeavor to report his vision and stories about the incidents, but that didn't intercede for Maher who was beaten and humiliated a few meters away from the regime's checkpoint who is defending it day and night.