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Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63,
Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, LebanonTel /Fax: 00961 1
397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address:
[email protected]
Beirut, June 18, 2010
Press release
The Syrian authorities release two of the Damascus Declaration
group
leaders, while keeping Al-Abdullah in custody
DamascusSKeyes Special Report
On Thursday, 17/6/2010, the Syrian authorities released Walid
al-Bunni and Yasser al-
Iti, the two leaders in the Damascus Declaration dissident
group, after their sentences
(two and a half years) were completed. This is while Ali
al-Abdullah was kept in custody
on another charge, made against him two months before he
completed his sentence.A lawyer and human rights activist in
Damascus told SKeyes that the release of al -
Bunni and al-Iti was carried out by the State Security branch in
Damascus. The samebranch then referred al-Abdullah to the Political
Security branch from whence he was
placed in custody again at the Damascus Central Prison in Adra.
He also added that a
lawsuit was brought before the military judiciary in Damascus
against al-Abdullah, in
accordance with Article 286 of the Penal Code (conveying false
news that could
debilitate the nations morale), and article 278 (the crime of
taking actions or writing
material or speeches that the government did not approve, and
which subsequently
subjected Syria to the danger of hostile actions, damaged its
relations with a foreign
country, or subjected Syrian citizens to reprisals against them
or against their
properties), all against the backdrop of statements al-Abdullah
had made within prison.In a previous interview conducted by SKeyes
with the former prisoner Akram al-Bunni,who was incarcerated
against the backdrop of his affiliation with the Damascus
Declaration group, and who was released on 13/6/2010, he said
that Al-Abdullah is
supposed to be released on 17/6/2010. He also pointed out that
no arrest warrant wasissued against him. However, he might be
referred to a military court because of the
nature of the case filed against him while he is in prison.
Al-Nidaa, the official website of the Damascus Declaration, had
earlier mentioned that
Al-Abdullah was referred to the State Security Court two months
before the end of his
sentence, against the background of the statements he made more
than a year ago, when
he was being detained at the Damascus Central Prison in
Adra.
From his detention place, al-Abdullah described the Lebanese
elections as a democraticwedding, and called on the Syrians to
study this experience in order to raise awarenessregarding
democracy in Syria, in a statement he made to the Italian news
agency AKI.
In another statement regarding the Iranian elections,
al-Abdullah also said that the
demonstrations of the Iranian people took place in response to
the vote rigging, and
accused the Iranian regime of manipulating the political choices
of the Iranians notingthat these demonstrations have invalidated
the regimes credibility and its claims.
8/9/2019 The Syrian Authorities Release Two of the Damascus
Declarati
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Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63,
Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, LebanonTel /Fax: 00961 1
397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address:
[email protected]
Ali al-Abdullah is a writer and journalist from Deir el-Zour. He
was formerly imprisoned
several times against the background of his activism in public
affairs. He was elected as
member in the Presidium of the Damascus Declaration. He was
arrested on 17/12/2007.
Walid al-Bunni is a doctor from Tel Manin. He is a former
prisoner who was incarceratedagainst the backdrop of his role in
launching the Damascus Spring. He was elected asmember in the
Secretariat of the Damascus Declaration. He was arrested on
17/12/2007.
Yasser al-Iti is a poet and academician from Damascus. He is a
lecturer of Human
Development and has many published works. He was elected as
member in the
Secretariat of the Damascus Declaration. He was arrested on
17/12/2007.Along with all
members of the declaration, he was sentenced to two years and a
half in prison on
charges of weakening the national sentiment and conveyingfalse
news.
The Damascus Declaration is a dissident group that calls for
peaceful national democratic
change in Syria. This prompted the Syrian authorities to wage a
campaign of arrests
against most of the groups members. The First Criminal Court in
Damascus decided on
29/10/2008 to convict the detainees of two counts of weakening
the national sentimentand conveying false news, and to sentence
them to two years and a half of provisional
imprisonment.
Of these members, Akram al-Bunni, Ahmad Tohme, Jaber al-Shufi,
Fida Hourani, Walid
al-Bunni and Yasser al-Iti were released, while the rest of the
detainees are to be
released respectively, according to the date of their
arrest.
The SKeyes Centre for Media and Cultural Freedom a part of the
Samir Kassir
Foundation-, denounces the referral of the writer and political
activist Ali al-Abdullah to
the military judiciary after the completion of his sentence, and
deplores the deliberate
retribution in dealing with human rights activist and civil
society activists, and any
political activities aimed at taking society further into
democracy, pluralism and civil
society in Syria.
