(CNN) -- Syrian state TV aired Saturday what it said was a confession by citizen journalist Ali Mahmoud Othman, who activists say was arrested in March after he helped foreign journalists escape from the besieged city of Homs. 

Othman helped run a media center in Baba Amr area of Homs, which provided information to international news media during a months-long crackdown on the civilian neighborhood by government forces. 

Reporters Without Borders, the journalist watchdog group, said last month it was "extremely concerned" for the life of Othman after his detention. 

Othman was transferred to Damascus two days after his arrest by the intelligence services in Aleppo on March 28, the group said. 

Activists fear he may have been subjected to torture in detention. 

Rafiq Lutf, described as a Syrian media researcher, told the state TV program he had spoken to Othman for seven hours uninterrupted, all of it videotaped. 

His subject states his name is "Ali Othman aka Al-Jid from Baba Amr of Homs. I work as photography director and live streaming with Khalid Abu Salah at the media center. I communicate with the satellite channels, on top of them Al Jazeera, Arabiya, CNN, BBC, Sky News and Turkish channel TRT." 

In the interview Othman describes how the media operation was set up in Baba Amr, and talks about demonstrations and the role of armed groups. 

It is unclear under what circumstances the interview was taped. 

But Heather Blake, UK representative for Reporters Without Borders, said: "Research by our organization and many other organizations indicates that many human rights defenders who are detained have been shown to give false confessions under much duress and torture. 
Was anyone able to contact him?
unknown