Assad's Secret Emails: Shopping for Luxury While Syria Bled

Editor's note: the original version of this article reproduced the Guardian's leaked emails verbatim and ended mid-sentence. This version summarizes the reporting in our own words.

The short version: In March 2012, the Guardian published what it said were private emails of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad and his wife Asma — obtained from Syrian opposition activists — depicting a couple ordering chandeliers, candlesticks, and designer goods while the government's crackdown was killing thousands of Syrians.

What the leak contained

The emails, sent from private accounts, reportedly showed Asma al-Assad arranging luxury purchases from European stores — candlesticks, tables, and chandeliers from Paris; a designer vase from Harrods — even as the uprising entered its bloodiest phase. One widely quoted exchange concerned a "Ming" designer vase ordered during a Harrods sale.

The leak also suggested the president's media operation was being coached from abroad: messages showed advisers briefing Assad before interviews and circulating guidance on talking points. And in a detail that traveled the world, the emails indicated Assad downloaded music and videos from iTunes — the man presiding over a crackdown, privately consuming Western pop culture.

The caveats

The Guardian was transparent about its sourcing: the emails were provided by Syrian opposition activists who said they had intercepted the accounts; the hacktivist group Anonymous also claimed involvement. The Syrian government declined to comment on authenticity, and the Guardian acknowledged it could not independently verify every message. That caution is worth repeating: the story's power came from the documents, and the documents came from one side of a war.

Why it mattered

Even with those caveats, the leak did damage. It punctured the image the Assads had cultivated — particularly Asma, once profiled in Western magazines as a glamorous modernizer — and supplied an indelible contrast: luxury shopping receipts timestamped against the dates of massacres. The emails became a staple of Syria coverage, the "shopping while Syria burned" framing that no amount of official silence could erase.

From the archive: this piece was originally published March 14, 2012, and has been rewritten for accuracy and originality.