Blogger gets three-year prison sentence for posting article critical of secret services
Reporters Without Borders, Wednesday, May 14, 2008      
Tariq Biassi – a 23-year-old Syrian blogger held by state authorities in detention since July 7, 2007 – has been found guilty of “publishing false news” and “weakening national sentiment” under Articles 285 and 286 of the Syrian criminal code. Biassi was arrested due to statements he alleged made on an internet blog against the tyranny of Syrian state security forces. In his trial, Biassi claimed he did not make the statements ascribed to him and that one of the 6 other participants in the internet café to which he belonged was to blame. With Biassi’s arrest, a total of three cyber-dissidents are now behind bars in Syria: Syrian government security agents previously arrested writer and cyber-dissident Habib Saleh on May 6 and sentenced poet Firas Saad to four years in prison on April 9.  >>


  Another call for prominent journalist’s release as he begins third year in prison
Reporters Without Borders, Tuesday, May 13, 2008      
Reporters Without Borders has reiterated its call for the release of famed Syrian writer and journalist Michel Kilo, who has just begun his third year in Adra prison, in Damascus. Arrested by Syrian authorities on May 14, 2006, Kilo was given a three-year jail term one year later for “weakening national sentiment” by openly espousing the cause of political liberalization. Now aged 68 and a leading figure in the struggle for democracy in Syria, Kilo was arrested after signing the “Beirut-Damascus, Damascus-Beirut” appeal. His 2006 arrest was followed by a massive crackdown on the Syrian opposition in the last six months.  >>


  Call for charges against cyberdissident Habib Saleh to be spelled out
Reporters Without Borders, Friday, May 09, 2008      
Reporters Without Borders has called upon Syrian authorities to specify charges against writer and cyber-dissident Habib Saleh. Saleh, 61, was arrested on May 6, 2008 for writing articles critical of the Assad regime and its monopoly on power. However, this is not the first time Mr. Saleh has been detained: he was previously sentenced to three years in prison in 2002 during the so-called “Damascus Spring,” released on September 9, 2004, sentenced to another three years on August 15, 2006, and then released again on September 12, 2007. All in all, according to Reporters Without Borders, Habib Saleh has spent 27 months in prison. His arrests all resulted from online journalism advocating political change in Syria.  >>


  Syrian arrested on second visit home after nearly 3 decades in exile
Jerusalem Post, Sunday, May 04, 2008      
According to the Syrian Human Rights League, Issam al-Haj Ahmed al-Dallalo -- a Syrian expatriate who has spent three decades in Saudi Arabia in exile from his home country -- was arrested on April 22nd when he returned briefly to visit Syria. Al-Dallalo is one of several members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement who fled Syria in the 1980's due to political persecution. Currently, the Muslim Brotherhood is united with former Assad regime members in the opposition National Salvation Front. The arrest of al-Dallalo occurred even though he had received guarantees from the Syrian Embassy in Saudi Arabia that he would not be detained and even though he was able to return to Syria for a quick visit this past year without incident. The Syrian Human Rights League did not give a reason for the arrest of al-Dallalo and the Syrian government declined to comment.  >>


  Syria Human Rights
Voice of America News, Friday, May 02, 2008      
In a review of the deteriorating human rights situation in Syria, an editorial for the U.S. government concludes that the Assad regime has become evermore repressive in its handling of the Syrian opposition. Specifically, the Voice of America report concentrated on the arrest and imprisonment of prominent Syrian activists Michael Kilo, Anwar al-Bunni, Mahmoud Issa, and Aref Dalilah. It also highlighted the recent expansion of the prison sentence of activist Kamal Labwani and the mass arrests of 13 Damascus Declaration members following a crackdown by Syrian authorities that commenced in December of 2007. In reaction to such persecution, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack condemned the Syrian legal system as being "characterized by politically motivated prosecutions and devoid of legitimate standards." Furthermore, the U.S. government calls upon the Syrian government to cease its harassment of Syrians who are peacefully seeking to bring about democratic and political reform in their country.  >>


  Imprisoned human rights activist in Syria wins international award
International Herald Tribune, Thursday, May 01, 2008      
On May 1st, a prominent Syrian human rights activist won the annual Irish-based Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk. The recipient -- Anwar al-Bunni, aged 49 -- gained prominence in the 1990's by bravely defending opponents of the Assad regime, organizing a group called the Free Political Prisoners Committee, co-founding the Syrian Human Rights Association, and founding a media-rights pressure group called Freedom. However, unfortunately, Mr. Bunni was not present to receive his distinguished award; in May 2006 he and other Syrian and Lebanese activists were arrested by Syrian authorities for signing the Damascus Declaration and advocating political reform in Syria. Sentenced to five years in prison, Mr. Bunni is due for release in 2011. His wife accepted his award in his stead.  >>


  Syrian opposition in the headlight in Washington
Free Syria, Tuesday, April 29, 2008      
Every day the voice of the Syrian opposition is louder and heard all over the world. Recently, indeed, in late April and early May, the Syrian opposition carried out several activities in the American capital. These included a special session of the Middle East Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives involving the testimony of three opposition activists and a special conference in the American Congress held by the Damascus Declaration. The Movement for Justice and Reconstruction, the Tharwa Organization, Democracy Now, and the National Salvation Front also attended the conferences. A rousing speech by U.S. Representative Gary Ackerman opened the proceedings and condemned the Syrian government for its interference in Lebanon and its human rights policies.  >>


  Germany condemns Syria's imprisonment of political activist
Earth Times, Wednesday, April 23, 2008      
On April 23, 2008, the German Foreign Ministry condemned a Syrian military court for sentencing Liberal Democratic Union Kawal Labwani to a further three years in prison after convicting him of spreading propaganda and false information. Added to a 12-year sentence imposed last May for speaking out against the Syrian government, Labwani now faces a total imprisonment of 15 years. In the words of a German Foreign Ministry spokesman: "This new conviction is in breach of the international pact of civil and political rights which Syria signed in 1969. Non-violently, Dr Labwani is advocating improvements to democracy and freedom of opinion in Syria."  >>


  Syrian PM lashes out against electronic media
Menassat, Tuesday, April 15, 2008      
On April 13th, the government-controlled newspaper al-Baath reported that Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji al-Otari, accompanied by the Ministers of Information, Finance and Economy and their aides, has lashed out against websites in Syria. According to al-Otari, internet sites used to express political opinions are either tools by the ‘nouveaux riche’ to increase their empires of wealth or malicious means by foreigners to destabilize the Syrian state. In his comments, al-Otari also condemned journalism training programs as centers of disinformation. However, activist Bassam al-Qadi dubs such comments ludicrous, pointing out that the Syrian government has mostly censored those websites critical of the Syrian authorities.  >>


  Syrian National Salvation Front To Launch Satellite Channel
MEMRI, Wednesday, April 09, 2008      
The opposition National Salvation Front (NSF) of Syria has announced that it will begin operating its satellite television channel (called "The New Syria") in early summer 2008 to increase the organization's visibility and to expose the tyranny of the Assad regime to the world. The NSF – an alliance between the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria and other opposition groups – is headed by former Syrian vice-president Abdul Halim Khaddam.  >>