Footage purportedly leaked from Syria's Sednaya Prison was posted to social media on Tuesday, showing the inside of the notorious detention centre used by Syria's deposed Baathist regime.
Activists say the surveillance footage shows days in the run-up to the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government, raising questions about the timing of the release.
The clips were first posted on a Facebook account called "Haidar al-Turab", before later being deleted, however they were later circulated by activists on other platforms.
One of the recordings shows detainees in a waiting room being forced to stand face down, with their hands behind their heads as they wait to enter a courtroom.
Another clip shows a control room with a large number of surveillance screens, in addition to footage showing a room where visits by detainees' families were organised.
Syria's government has made no official statement on the leaks.
Former Sednaya detainee Ahmed al-Hamad told The New Arab that the footage does reflect the inside of the prison, including a section known as the "Red Prison".
Al-Hamad called for an urgent investigation into the source of the leaks, and to find out what happened to other photographic evidence from the prison. He urged against turning the suffering of the detainees into material for viral circulation, saying the evidence should be dealt with in a way that preserves the dignity of the detainees and their families.
The leaked footage appears to bolster previous claims that the prison's recording devices and documents were stolen after the fall of the Assad regime in late 2024.
The Association of Detainees and Missing Persons of Sednaya Prison reported in late 2024 that armed groups had looted the contents of the control rooms, including computers containing camera recordings and sensitive security documents.
The association believes that these materials may be a key to uncovering the fate of thousands of detainees and forcibly disappeared persons.
According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), more than 177,000 people were forcibly disappeared by the Assad regime, most of whom are believed to have been killed.
The fate of tens of thousands of prisoners and missing people is still one of the most harrowing legacies of the war.