Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:48your permission, to
00:00:55a problem with the state, it is not
00:02:08himself. I mean, because no one has the right
00:02:11Accusations were made against Ekf Agricultural Investment Company,
00:02:14which is affiliated with the Sovereign Fund, of seizing properties and lands
00:02:18owned by those who are absent from their areas. The director of Ekf Company in Hama
00:02:21told Syria TV that the company
00:02:25took control of lands in
00:02:28forces shelled who hears this Sir, are you not based in Paris? Come to the villages empty of their residents with the aim of preserving the properties and informed
00:02:31their owners of the possibility of receiving them immediately upon providing ownership documents.
00:02:35He added that the lands of those involved in committing violations
00:02:39and crimes against Syrians are subject to precautionary seizure,
00:02:42explaining that the file of these lands is directly related to the
00:02:46Illegal Enrichment Combat Committee. He confirmed that the company returned approximately
00:02:50And what do I say about Article 16 or 40,000 dunams
00:02:52to their owners after providing ownership
00:02:55documents.
00:03:00The land was seized. They said the economic situation in Hama
00:03:03deteriorated. We came here and they asked for official papers from us.
00:03:07We provided the papers and came
00:03:09here, and thank God, it worked out. The problem was solved.
00:03:12Engineer Munther Al-Zuhouri,
00:03:17Director of Ekfa Agricultural Investment Company
00:03:20used to distribute his salary to in Hama, joins us from Hama, and Bassam Salem, the lawyer
00:03:22and legal consultant from Paris. Welcome to both of you. Professor Munther,
00:03:26why did Ekfa company confiscate
00:03:29vast lands in the countryside of Hama?
00:03:32Peace
00:03:35be upon you and God's mercy. And upon
00:03:37you be peace.
00:03:39Enrichment Committee for the Sovereign Fund to distribute to First of all, we will not call it confiscation. It is a matter of taking
00:03:43over.
00:03:45As your correspondent came to us and gave us a complete report that
00:03:49these lands were taken over
00:03:52by absent people who we don't know anything about at first.
00:03:56So, in our case, we control the area from the chaos
00:03:59that exists. We took over
00:04:02Fund does not have the right to seize the all the lands. And I went about two years ago and met with the absent people in the
00:04:05ruling that specifies this Masyaf area.
00:04:07I informed them that anyone who is absent should bring
00:04:11the supporting documents to our office in Hama and submit them. When
00:04:16complete in their authenticity is verified, of course, the condition is that he is not
00:04:19involved with the former regime in any operations against
00:04:23Syrians. So, directly, routine procedures. He goes to the
00:04:26governorate, brings us the transfer here, and then we
00:04:30hand over the lands to the absent owner immediately. We handed over
00:04:33a large number of lands on this basis. Okay,
00:04:36Professor Munther, but usually, shouldn't there be a legal basis? What
00:04:40is the legal basis, and how is it verified? I mean, you say, for example, involved
00:04:44with the former regime. Who will prosecute? Who will
00:04:47decide that, dear? The reliance, of course,
00:04:50is on the
00:04:52independence, from security apparatus at first. I mean,
00:04:55the security apparatus, and as they say, let's say, every
00:04:59region. Like, let's
00:05:01say, there is a village called Khattab, for example. Everyone knows
00:05:05that a certain person, say, Ahmed Al-Omar, is known for his crimes against
00:05:10His Excellency the President and considered it part of Syrians. Okay? The verification
00:05:13is through whom? Through security
00:05:16person. When all parties agree
00:05:20and confirm that this person
00:05:23state, then we have nothing to do with it. His review is referred to the Illegal
00:05:27Enrichment Committee. The Illegal Enrichment Committee ultimately directs us. They are
00:05:30the concerned party in this matter. They either confirm
00:05:34the seizure or send us a letter to lift the seizure. It's just
00:05:38that such a matter requires a court
00:05:41ruling, a legal judiciary, Professor
00:05:44Munther, not a security matter. I mean, right, right, right, right, my good
00:05:48man. No, we have something called the Economic Committee. Okay?
00:05:51We had something called the Economic Committee that seized
00:05:54it and transferred it to us initially before the formation of the Illegal
00:05:57Enrichment Committee. Okay? After the Illegal Enrichment Committee was formed,
00:06:01any seizure anywhere in Syria is exclusively through
00:06:05a decision from the Illegal Enrichment Committee. We are now only
00:06:08an investment company, an agricultural investment company.
00:06:12But the one that transfers the decision to us is the Illegal Enrichment Committee.
00:06:15Okay? So, Professor Munther, Ekfa
00:06:18company is a private, non-
00:06:20governmental company? No. Well, it is a
00:06:23public company.
00:06:26It is a public governmental
00:06:29company, a public agricultural investment company
00:06:32affiliated with the Sovereign Fund.
00:06:35Okay?
00:06:37The arrangement, the arrangement, how is the arrangement? We have something called the Illegal
00:06:41Enrichment Committee. Okay? It is the one that makes
00:06:43the decisions. The Illegal Enrichment Committee transfers
00:06:48the Sovereign Fund. Each one, for example, the land to the Ekfa company. There are
00:06:52other companies and other sectors. For example, this one who issued the decision
00:06:55against him, what does he have in terms of seizures or takeovers?
00:06:59So they distribute them, each according to their specialization. We are an agricultural investment company only. We
00:07:02have nothing to do with anything else. So, it is a governmental arm
00:07:06of the Sovereign Fund. Of course, my dear, it is a public entity.
00:07:10And who manages the company?
00:07:14Mr. Muhammad Hanouf is the General Manager of the company.
00:07:18Hmm. Okay. I'll take the opinion of Professor
00:07:22Bassam Salem. Good evening. What is the legal
00:07:24assessment of this, I mean, the seizure
00:07:28of these lands?
00:07:31Sir, honestly, I have nothing more to say legally after what
00:07:35the professor said, and I hope that there is no Arab or national investor
00:07:40speech, because this speech is terrifying. I mean, we are threatening
00:07:44private property, which was protected by the constitutional declaration signed by His Excellency
00:07:48President Ahmed Al-Shar. We have articles, we have Article
00:07:518, which talked about the return of the displaced, Article 11, which
00:07:55guarantees investment lives, and we talk about Article 42
00:07:58and Article 43.
00:08:02Article 17? I mean, the professor violated the constitution
00:08:06in all its articles, if we didn't also talk about himself.
00:08:09If it is really Ekfa company or a public company
00:08:13or affiliated with the Sovereign Fund, even the Sovereign Fund,
00:08:17according to Decree 113 issued by the President of the Republic, specifies
00:08:21its powers. It is not entitled to expropriate private property,
00:08:24but rather to manage state property and must submit
00:08:27a quarterly and annual report and must
00:08:31specify its sources. Today, we are all surprised that Ekfa company is
00:08:34part of the Sovereign Fund. The Sovereign Fund has been around
00:08:38since the date of the announcement of the decree announced by His Excellency the President,
00:08:42and it has not yet submitted any project, even
00:08:44in the decree that announced and established the
00:08:48Sovereign Fund 113, it must specify its sources. Well,
00:08:52where are these sources? Who determines that these lands belong to the Sovereign
00:08:55Fund? When was it seized? I mean, you mentioned,
00:08:59sir, and you are a person who is supposed to have a media background and not a legal
00:09:02background, you asked the brother, "Well, there must be trials.
00:09:06Who determines if this was required?" I say, even if
00:09:09Bashar al-Assad himself is the owner of the land, the Sovereign
00:09:14land except by a court
00:09:17thing. I mean, it is not that the people of the village agreed that so-and-so is wanted,
00:09:21so I am a company from this Ekfa company. Is there
00:09:25a legal definition according to Decree 113, which defined
00:09:28the Sovereign Fund and stated that Ekfa company is one of its branches?
00:09:31And even if it states this, it is not an entity
00:09:34with security or judicial
00:09:38or economic authority affiliated with the Ministry of Economy
00:09:41to seize citizens' property, private property.
00:09:44I repeat, Decree 113 specified
00:09:48and granted powers to the Sovereign Fund to manage public property
00:09:52of the state only, not private property
00:09:56and private lands of those who are involved or displaced. Basically, these
00:09:59are considered part of the displaced, as Ekfa company
00:10:03does with lands in Afrin and others, and now in Masyaf and other such
00:10:07areas. Article 8 of the constitution protected them. These
00:10:10lands are private property that should not be touched
00:10:14at all. And now I want to know, am I dealing with the professor
00:10:17according to Decree 113, which was issued by
00:10:22the Sovereign Fund, to start the dialogue? Or am I dealing
00:10:26with a private company that has a market and trading and shares and a stock exchange
00:10:30on Telegram platforms? I mean, we also don't know that there are
00:10:33many arms of Ekfa company. Define the entity for me,
00:10:37I mean, even now I went to the website of Ekfa company. It says it is a private
00:10:41company based in Idlib.
00:10:43This is how it describes itself. I am not saying this about it. It is the one
00:10:47that describes itself in this capacity. Hmm. Professor
00:10:50Munther, indeed, I also visited the Ekfa
00:10:54company website. It says it is an investment company that appears to be a private company. But now you say
00:10:57it is affiliated with the Sovereign Fund and is a government
00:11:01arm, and therefore there is a misleading description now.
00:11:04These lands, for example, are private property, as Professor
00:11:08Bassam said. You are converting them into public property. How
00:11:11is that? Just let me respond, with
00:11:13the professor.
00:11:16First of all, who expropriated private property? You
00:11:20seized called expropriation.
00:11:23It is called protection of lands until their
00:11:27owners return, until their owners return and receive the lands. This is not
00:11:30expropriation. Okay.
00:11:33Okay. Expropriation. Expropriation
00:11:37means that I ask a question.
00:11:41What is the legal status of Ekfa company, which is an investment
00:11:44company and has nothing to do with seizing lands?
00:11:47What is the legal status?
00:11:51The legal status is illegal enrichment. We are an investment
00:11:55company. We receive judicial decisions from the Illegal
00:11:58Enrichment Committee, and we, as a company, are only responsible for implementing this law
00:12:02from the Illegal Enrichment Committee. The professor can go and review the Illegal Enrichment Committee and ask them
00:12:06how they make decisions. But as for expropriation, so that he doesn't change
00:12:09the names, we are not expropriating anyone's property, nor are we violating the constitution of the President.
00:12:13Not at all. We have a temporary seizure until
00:12:16the owners of these lands attend, receive their lands, and proceed directly. The procedures are easy
00:12:20and smooth. Okay, but you are assuming
00:12:24in advance that the lands are confiscated,
00:12:27and then if someone turns out to be wrong, you say you return the lands. I mean, it is not
00:12:30confiscation. It is a
00:12:34temporary seizure until their owners attend, because they are
00:12:38absent. And today, if we have land that no one
00:12:42is occupying, okay?
00:12:46You, you think like that, even if the professor is talking, even if he knows anything
00:12:49about agriculture, if the land is neglected, the tree will
00:12:52wither. Well, but this is private
00:12:56property. It becomes public property of the state.
00:12:59No, no, no, no. It is private property. It remains private property until
00:13:03the concerned party attends and proceeds, with the exception of those against
00:13:06whom an illegal enrichment
00:13:08decision is issued.
00:13:11Okay? As for the general public, it is private property.
00:13:14It remains private property until they attend. And they attended, and we have
00:13:18huge numbers, 40 to 50 thousand dunams were returned to their owners
00:13:22who received them, and they are now working on them and investing in them. And
00:13:27Professor Bassam says, Professor, I mean, that it is not seizure of lands. It is a
00:13:31takeover for absent people who are not
00:13:34currently present. This is what he says. And I reiterate
00:13:37my point that I am not going to ask the Illegal Enrichment Committee or the Sovereign
00:13:41Fund, because we are honestly lost in the descriptions and entities. I am dealing
00:13:45with law and decrees issued by the President of the Republic, which defined
00:13:48its powers. And with those decrees, from those decrees,
00:13:52I am now dealing. I am talking about a Sovereign Fund, not about Ekfa. Does the Sovereign Fund
00:13:55have the right to assume that all landowners are rebels until the
00:13:59opposite is proven? I mean, this is not logical. This is against the law, against human
00:14:03rights, and against Islamic law and religion itself. And you do not have the right, if you left
00:14:07the land for more than a year or two, to seize it. And you know, if you are
00:14:10active in agriculture and you are a religious and bearded person, you do not have
00:14:14the right to own someone else's land, even if the crops
00:14:17were damaged. After a certain period, its ownership reverts to the state. This is if I am talking about
00:14:21Islamic law, the law of Imam Malik or the law of Imam Abu Hanifa. I mean,
00:14:25okay? I don't know what domain I will walk with the professor. Will
00:14:28I deal with him with the law and decrees and constitutions issued by the President
00:14:32of the Republic, or will I deal with him with Islamic law and religion and custom
00:14:35and law, honestly? Because I still
00:14:38want it. Okay, Hussein, please,
00:14:41and since you are a religious person, when do you have the right,
00:14:45according to Islamic law, to seize property?
00:14:48My dear, I am talking to you explicitly according to Islamic law and religion.
00:14:51And since you are a religious person, when do you have the right to seize
00:14:55private land? I tell you
00:14:59why you don't say why. You answer me
00:15:02now. Let him come forward, let the owner come forward.
00:15:06Let the owner come forward and receive it. I am not preventing him from receiving it, that's why I am here.
00:15:09Let him go and work on it. My dear, my dear, please,
00:15:13please, who told you that if you saw a car parked in the street or an empty
00:15:16house, that it has no owner? Who assumed this? How
00:15:20are you assuming that this land has no owner?
00:15:24Because
00:15:33there is no one there at all. There are no people. Who will work on these
00:15:36lands? We will leave them.
00:16:07And expropriation. The issue is not about transferring ownership or expropriating land.
00:16:11The owners are not present now.
00:16:17the state can come directly to us, and this is their land, Munther. This
00:16:21is
00:16:25a misnomer, Professor
00:16:27Munther. This is the idea, I mean, the problem is also that even if we assume there is
00:16:33permissible, because of a political opinion, for example,
00:16:36to criminalize its owner.
00:16:41This is the specialized committee, and it is the decision-maker.
00:16:45Today, we have a committee called the Illegal Enrichment Committee, which is
00:16:48appointed by a presidential decree. It is the
00:16:52one concerned with these matters. So, if anyone has a problem from those people, they go
00:16:55and review it. We are only an executive body. We are an
00:16:59investment body.
00:17:02the lands. No, we have temporarily protected
00:17:06their ownership. Today, they attend,
00:17:08and they go and proceed. Okay, Professor Bassam,
00:17:13the professor. No, no, I just want to understand a question from the professor. Does the Illegal
00:17:17Enrichment Authority, announced by a presidential
00:17:20decree, send you an official letter sealed by the
00:17:23director of the Illegal Enrichment Authority to confiscate that land or
00:17:27temporarily retain it? Yes.
00:17:31Yes. Do you have this letter? Show it to us, if
00:17:33you please. I have this letter. Yes, it is available.
00:17:38And cases, I wish to see it, because you have not only violated the constitution, you have
00:17:42violated the words of His Excellency the President
00:17:45except by a judicial ruling, even a seizure
00:17:49for an hour or an acquisition must be by a law issued by
00:17:52the President of the Republic, a judicial authority. Do you think, for example, that the Illegal
00:17:56Enrichment Committee is not a judicial authority? No, it is definitely not a judicial authority. Can you mention the name of a
00:17:59judge in the Illegal Enrichment Committee?
00:18:05Illegal Enrichment Committee, and they will introduce themselves to you. No, Professor Bassam, Professor
00:18:09Munther, Professor Bassam is talking about legal procedures, and it is capable of
00:18:13issuing decisions, and it is appointed by a presidential decree
00:18:16from His Excellency the President. Okay? Yes, but
00:18:19Professor Bassam says it does not have the legal authority within its tasks. No,
00:18:23no, it does have authority. If it didn't have authority, His Excellency the President would have suspended
00:18:26its work. If it didn't have
00:18:30authority,
00:18:34on their work, okay, and their work is approved. Okay.
00:18:40What is happening now is with the approval of His Excellency the President. Exactly, my
00:18:44dear. The Illegal Enrichment Committee is an affiliated body appointed
00:18:47by a decision from His Excellency the President. Okay?
00:18:50I agree with you, I agree with you, and you are an entity. We mean,
00:18:54the time is up, Professor Munther, and Professor Bassam. Professor Munther, I will start with you.
00:18:5830 seconds, half a minute, just to comment on the topic because the
00:19:01time is up.
00:19:04You operate, I mean, you say
00:19:08legal authority. We operate as an entity, we are an
00:19:11agricultural investment entity. We receive decisions from the Illegal
00:19:17sectors. We are only an investment entity. You have such-and-such
00:19:20land, you receive it by decision, and we work on it. And this is our job. The lands of
00:19:23the absent who have no problems with the state can attend at any
00:19:27moment. Their lands are available. They receive them and leave. Okay, Professor Bassam, a final comment
00:19:30from you in less than a minute.
00:19:33We are in a country where there is no law, no constitution, and no one respects the constitution.
00:19:37Unfortunately, according to the brother's words and on the ground, honestly,
00:19:41I mean, he spoke honestly, and I spoke with him honestly.
00:19:45I wanted to talk on a legal or constitutional basis, but unfortunately,
00:19:48on the ground, and according to the instructions, the professor is completely far from this topic.
00:19:52Bassam Salem, lawyer and legal consultant from Paris,
00:19:55and Engineer Munther Al-Zuhouri, Director of Ekfa Agricultural Investment Company,
00:19:59Hama Branch. Thank you, viewers, for watching, and see
00:20:02you soon.
00:30:30Welcome, viewers, to this news hour from Syria
00:30:34TV, and we begin with the most prominent
00:30:36headlines.
00:30:39The Security Council holds a session on Syria,
00:30:42and the United Nations says that more than five million
00:30:46people are still displaced within it and need support.
00:30:50The Israeli occupation army.
00:30:54جيش الاحتلال الاسرائي.