_News_ | *Farid al-Madhan* *Syria’s Caesar reveals his identity*👇 11 years after smuggling out thousands of photos of Syrian detainees tortured to death in Assad’s prisons, “Caesar” now has a name and a face: First Assistant Farid al-Madhan, former head of the Judicial Evidence Department of the military police in Damascus. Al-Madhan appeared on Al Jazeera’s program “Lil Qissa Baqiya” on Thursday night, marking his first public appearance since al-Assad was ousted two months ago. In the interview, al-Madhan revealed extensive details about his role in photographing detainees' bodies and how the regime documented its crimes. He stated that “security agency leaders expressed their absolute loyalty to al-Assad through images of the bodies.” The photographing process began with the outbreak of the revolution in 2011 and took place at the morgues of Tishreen Military Hospital and Harasta Hospital. However, as the number of victims grew, the military hospital garage in Mazzeh was turned into a place to collect and document the victims. The official cause of death recorded for all was the same: “cardiac and respiratory arrest.” Al-Madhan revealed that he had decided to defect from the regime at the start of the revolution but delayed his move for several reasons—including gathering as much evidence as possible of the regime’s crimes against humanity, as well as security conditions. He escaped Syria for Jordan and then Qatar, where Caesar's journey began. The process of smuggling the photos took place on a quasi-daily basis for about three years, by hiding them “in my clothes, bread bundles, and on my body for fear of being searched at checkpoints.” Caesar managed to escape Syria in 2014, and the photos he smuggled out became key evidence in indictments against the Assad regime and its practices. Based on his documents, international prosecution of Syrian officials began, and in his honor, Washington enacted a law to protect civilians in Syria by imposing sanctions on dozens of figures and entities affiliated with the ousted regime.