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Thousands of Syrians gathered for the funeral of the prominent activist Mazen al-Hamada, who was found dead in the notorious Saydnaya prison this week with signs of torture on his body.

Video footage shared on social media sites on Thursday showed his body wrapped in the Syrian opposition flag, bearing three stars in the centre, which has widely been used by the opposition since 2011.

Rebels carrying this banner were part of an offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that toppled President Bashar al-Assad over the weekend, ending over 50 years of Assad family rule, but were too late to save Hamada and other detainees who appear to have been killed during the final days of the Syrian regime's rule.

At the funeral held in Damascus, people waved around photos of Hamada and chanted for freedom, while mourners chanted "God is great" as his coffin passed by crowds gathered to pay their respects.

Al-Hamada was found on Monday at a morgue at the Harasta Hospital on the outskirts of Damascus. The hospital morgue is linked to the Saydnaya prison, where the Syrian regime was known to dispose of inmates' bodies before they were placed in mass graves.

His body had visible signs of torture and beatings, various reports stated.

Muzna al-Naib, a Syrian activist who worked with al-Hamada, described him as a "gentle soul".

"He believed with all his heart that the fight for freedom and democracy in Syria is worth sacrifice. He dreamt of a better future but paid the highest price," she told ������ while watching the funeral broadcast live.

"My heart is broken. I wish I could be there, but he is in my prayers today."

She said that Hamada often felt unheard, betrayed, and alone.

"Mazen was subjected to the worst torture imaginable and after he was released he did his best to inform the world of the horrors in the dungeons in Syria and the forced disappearances," she said, adding that he was an "easy target" to be lured back to Damascus and detained due to being so badly affected by the horrors inflicted by the Assad regime.

Outspoken against the regime

Hamada was known around the world for being an outspoken critic of the Syrian regime since protests erupted in 2011.

He was briefly arrested twice in 2011 but later was arrested again in 2012 for smuggling baby formula to a Damascus suburb which was under siege following the outbreak of civil war.

The activist spoke repeatedly about the torture and persecution inflicted on people as a result of Assad’s rule. He also was subjected to sexual assaults and beatings, as well as forced confessions to crimes he did not commit.

He sought asylum in the Netherlands after being released in 2014 where he again used his voice to highlight the abuses inflicted by the Assad regime by attre at conferences, giving testimonies, and attending events.

In one testimony he said he was subject to hanging, sexual abuse, hot oil and boiling water thrown on him, as well as cigarettes burned on his body.

He returned to Syria in 2020 from Germany after being "promised" amnesty by the Syrian regime, while some activists said he returned to visit his family and was suffering psychologically. Hamada was immediately faced with arbitrary detention upon his return, was forcibly disappeared, and never seen again.

مازن ملفوفاً بالمجد وعلم الجمهورية، وعلى أكتاف رفاق النضال والثورة.

— محمد حسان Mohammad Hassan (@mohammed_nomad)

Online, tributes poured in for al-Hamada, with many referring to him as a "martyr".

"Mazen was not a martyr of Deir az-Zour. Mazen was a martyr of a free Syria. The voice of all Syrian detainees. Today all the sons of a free Syria escort him to meet his lord and his brothers, the other martyrs of Syria. May Allah accept you into the gardens of bliss," one person commented.

"This is the martyr, a hero, who will be immortalised with other heroes of Syria – Mazen al-Hamada. May God have mercy on you," another wrote.

Activists believe that he was killed in recent days, during the capture of Damascus by the Syrian opposition rebels over the weekend, which led to the ousting of Assad.

During the fall of Damascus, Saydnaya was soon taken over by the rebels. Hundreds of prisoners were freed in the aftermath, while the search for more potential inmates held in the prison’s underground cells remained ongoing. Tens of thousands remain missing.

The prison is considered among the most notorious symbols of the Assad regime’s brutality, where prominent opponents found themselves subject to inhumane conditions, and most killed.