The two US journalists who were released by Syria on Thursday were quoted yesterday by the paper they worked for, the Jordan Times, as saying they were “kidnapped and taken by force into the Syrian territory.”
Taylor Luck, 23, and Holli Chmela, 27, arrived back in Jordan early yesterday after the Syrian authorities handed them over to the US embassy in Damascus.
The two journalists arrived in Lebanon on Sept. 29 for a vacation, but were missing since Oct. 1, when they reportedly departed Beirut en route to Byblos and Tripoli and then to Aleppo.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the two US citizens entered Syria “illegally” with smugglers and did not obtain entry visas.
The pair told the Jordan Times that they were “kidnapped by a taxi driver and an accomplice” who were supposed to take them to the Lebanese-Syrian border crossing where they intended to obtain visas and complete their vacation in Syria before returning to Jordan by land.
“We had planned to take a bus from Tripoli to Homs, but the bus station was closed and a taxi driver offered to take us across the border, saying he was licensed to make such trips,” they were quoted as saying.
“He took us with another driver and on the way went off the main road,” Luck said. “I asked him where the border was but he did not answer. As he continued driving, he locked the car doors and asked us to hand over our money, but we refused to give him anything.”
“At that moment, a military car showed up and pulled him over and without a word took our bags, passports and cell phones and took us into their vehicle,” Luck said.
The two journalists said that they did not reveal their profession to the Syrian authorities and told them they were just tourists.
The Syrian police told them they would take them to a bus station in Homs.
But their destination was in fact “a prison, where they both were held for eight days.”
“I found myself behind bars with more than 30 people, while Holli was locked up in another room. I refused to be separated from her and they finally put us in one room for one night before we were separated again,” Luck told the Jordan Times.
However, Luck and Chmela said they received kind treatment from Syrian officers.
“Most treated us well and some policemen even allowed me and Holli to meet late at night and talk,” Luck said.
On Wednesday night, the two were transferred from Homs to a Damascus prison.
However, when an officer recognized Luck and Chmela as journalists from media footage, the transfer was cancelled and they were handed over to the US embassy in Damascus instead.
“We may have exercised a poor judgment, but at the end of the day, we were victims,” Luck told the Jordan Times after being released on Thursday.
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