The video broadcast last week on CNN with the moment of a prisoner being released from a Syrian prison being “staged” was also left by the network itself, as a spokesperson responded to a question from The Wrap that “we are looking into his identity.”

The video reported by CNN

“We have continued to investigate his background and we know he may have given us false information,” the CNN spokesman initially said, as reports suggest the man released is a Syrian Air Force intelligence officer.

“No one other than the CNN team was aware of our visit to the prison recorded that day. The events unfolded as shown in the video. The decision to release the prisoner in the footage was the decision of the guard, a Syrian guerrilla. We recorded the scenes as they unfolded, including what the prisoner told us. We have continued to investigate his background and we know he may have given us false information. We continue to investigate this and the broader story,” was the statement from the CNN spokesperson.

It was preceded by reports on Sunday from Verify-Sy, a website that describes itself as “an independent and unbiased platform specializing in fact-checking in Syria.”

According to the controversial post about the detainee in the CNN video, no record was found of a man named “Adel Gharbal,” as the protagonist identified himself in the US channel’s video.

The website’s editors claim it is a man named Salama Mohammad Salama, who is also known as Abu Hamza, who has served as a lieutenant in the Syrian Air Force intelligence services and was known for his behavior in Homs.

“Residents of the Al-Bayyada neighborhood identified him as the person they often saw at a checkpoint at the western entrance to the area, notorious for his abuses,” the website said, adding that he was a person “allegedly involved in theft, extortion and coercing residents into becoming informants.”