Syrian government confirms detention of missing German journalist

BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian government confirmed Thursday that a German journalist who went missing months ago is detained in Syria.

Eva Maria Michelmann, 36, was last seen on Jan. 18, when she and a Kurdish-Turkish colleague were supposedly detained by Syrian government forces during the takeover of Raqqa during military operations against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, said earlier this week.

The group called for her release.

Syria's Information Ministry said in a statement that Michelmann and a Turkish man — identified by CPJ as Kurdish-Turkish journalist Ahmed Polad — were found during a sweep of Raqqa by Interior Ministry forces, in a building that had been used by the SDF as a “security headquarters.”

It said the two foreign nationals had “refused to disclose their true identities and possessed no official documentation verifying who they were." During initial questioning, it said, they “claimed to be engaged in humanitarian work and made no mention of any journalistic role" and said they were working for the United Nations, which was later determined to be false.

The Information Ministry said they had then attempted to escape and were detained again on “suspicions that they may be foreign fighters present in Syria illegally.”

The statement said that the two were “formally detained, and legal proceedings have been initiated in preparation for referral to the competent judicial authorities.” It did not specify the charges against them.

CPJ said the two journalists worked for Istanbul-based Etkin News Agency ETHA and Özgür TV, which operates across several cities in Europe.

Frank Jasenski, an attorney representing Michelmann and her family in Germany, said earlier this week, “We assume that her health is very, very poor and we demand her immediate release."

The German Foreign Office said last week that it had been in touch with the detained journalist but did not give further details, citing privacy rules.

Syrian government forces seized Raqqa, which had previously been controlled by the SDF, during an offensive in January. The SDF and Damascus later reached a ceasefire and announced an agreement under which the SDF would be integrated into the national army.

The ceasefire has held and the integration deal has been gradually moving forward. Syria’s new leaders have struggled since toppling former President Bashar Assad in December 2024 to assert their full authority over the country torn by nearly 14 years of civil war.