Those who claim that Assad released Islamists from prison to taint the uprising forget that the majority of those in Syrian prisons are Islamists. Opposition groups negotiating with the State always demanded the release of prisoners as a precondition for helping "calm the street"
Sheikh Sayasneh of Omari Mosque in Daraa saw Assad for three hours in April 2011. His number one demand was the release of prisoners. After the meeting, the Sheikh claimed that Assad promised him to do so to help “calm the streets” 
3-People like Zahran Alloush were imprisoned for 5-7 years just for preaching and gun possession. Those sentences were thought by many to be too harsh.. This was made worse by fact that Intel agencies often asked judges to extend sentences of Islamists after they had served
4-#Syria analysts want us to believe that Assad was so conscious about his image that he released Islamists from prison to avoid being portrayed as fighting civilians. The very same analysts also often write Assad doesn't care about what the world thinks of him #Schizophrenia
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