Sects, lies and videotape: a Syrian story, part 2

While filming in rebel-held Syria, Loubna Mrie is falsely accused of being a spy – an accusation that spirals into a life-threatening ordeal, triggering the deepest loss of her life.

In 2011, Loubna Mrie broke from her loyalist family to join Syria’s underground network of activists. She used her Alawite identity – the same minority sect as the ruling Assads – to move through checkpoints and secretly film anti-government protests, even as it put her in conflict with her powerful father and the regime that had shaped her childhood.

But Loubna’s Alawite background made her a target for both sides. While filming in a rebel-held village, a local commander falsely accused her of being “an Alawite spy” and planned to execute her. Rescued at the last moment by a fellow activist, Loubna fled Syria – uploading a video declaring her support for the uprising before crossing into Turkey. What followed was a shattering personal loss.

From exile, Loubna struggled with grief, guilt and addiction. She lost friends and a partner to the war, survived alone in a new country, and eventually entered rehab – where she learned that Bashar al-Assad had finally fallen from power in Syria. For Loubna, the news was not a triumph but a painful reckoning: the end had come far too late for so many she loved. Loubna’s written a book called Defiance: A Memoir of Awakening, Rebellion, and Survival in Syria.

Loubna shares her story over two episodes. In the previous episode, she described her journey from a loyalist upbringing to becoming one of the unlikely young revolutionaries who documented Syria’s civil war. In part two, the same identity that once protected her puts her in danger.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen
Producer: Maryam Maruf

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707

(Photo: Loubna Mrie looks directly into the camera. She has long, brown curly hair and is wearing a black blazer. Credit: Cristias Rosas)