{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/6a79bd45efa771345a79dce7?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"We call her Emma","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/cover/1786363151093-0fe0d00c-78e8-464b-bd20-c7390f9c18f1.jpeg?height=200","description":"<p>Emma is a high achieving, middle class girl from west London. She seems destined for a successful career in banking and a comfortable British life. Until she makes a decision that will come to define her. In 2001 Emma marries Bashar al-Assad - the now infamous dictator of Syria.</p><p><br></p><p>In the early days, people inside and out of Syria dared to hope.&nbsp;Alongside his beautiful, progressive wife, Bashar promised to modernise the country.</p><p><br></p><p>But when the Arab Spring reached Syria in 2011, Bashar's regime showed itself for what it really was: a brutal force, willing to capture and kill ordinary Syrians demanding change. And in all the years that a war raged on, Asma stands by her husband. She seemingly ignored the desperate pleas to stop her husband from killing his own people.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>But what did she really know about the atrocities her husband’s government was carrying out? And what choices did she really have?&nbsp;Some people allege that she actually assisted the regime and cashed in on the war, that she herself is a war criminal. Others say she tried to run away but was trapped, held hostage by a regime who threatened her life and her children.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>So, who is the real Emma?</p>","author_name":"The Observer"}