Letter to President Assad about record number of detained journalists and cyber-dissidents

Reporters Without Borders wrote to Syrian President Bashar el-Assad today condemning his silence and inaction in the face of an increase in arrests and convictions of journalists and cyber-dissidents. A total of nine are currently held - the highest number at any one time since he became president in July 2000. The letter was sent the same day that imprisoned writer and journalist Michel Kilo's request for early release was due to be examined by a full session of the Damascus court of appeal. “The interior ministry and state security services have hounded free thinkers in your country during the past two years, targeting those who dared to call for more freedom or point out the need for reforms,” the letter said. “These people spoke out not to destabilise your regime but to participate in a public debate, without which no society can claim to be democratic. “They include writer and journalist Michel Kilo, who was arrested in May 2006 and sentenced to three years in prison for criticising the tension between Syria and Lebanon. Doesn't the current diplomatic rapprochement between Damascus and Beirut constitute an admission that there were in fact no grounds for arresting Kilo? Doesn't keeping him in prison although he has served three quarters of his sentence constitute an admission that the government is taking its revenge? We urge you to restore this journalist's rights. “Each detainee has his story and his share of injustice. Ali Abdallah, Fayez Sara and Akram Al-Bunni - all members of the Damascus Declaration Committee - have just been sentenced to two and a half years in prison. A court found them guilty of publishing false information with the aim of harming the state, belonging to a secret organisation designed to destabilise the state and inciting ethnic and racial tension. We have read and reread the Damascus Declaration without managing to find anything in it to support these charges and, less still, the disproportionate sentences. “The Damascus court decisions of the past two years have illustrated the symbiosis between the ubiquitous intelligence services and a compliant judicial system. The journalists and cyber-dissidents caught in the interior ministry's net are systematically convicted at the end of unfair trials. And, as if depriving these journalists of their freedom were not sufficient punishment, the conditions in which they are held are aggravated by their jailers and the common criminals with whom they are confined. “Cyber-dissident Habib Saleh has, for example, been held in Adra prison since 5 May on charges of undermining national feeling and inciting civil and sectarian war for posting an article in support of the Damascus Declaration detainees. He cut himself on a razor blade placed in its bunk by a fellow inmate on 23 October. His family is now worried about his safety.” The letter concluded: “Lastly, our organisation continues to be particularly concerned about the fate of three cyber-dissidents - Firas Saad, Tariq Biassi and Kareem Abraji - held in Saydnaya prison. We have had no information about them since last July's deadly clashes between inmates and guards in this prison. Their relatives and their lawyers are still being prevented from visiting them. We remind you that family visits are one of the basic rights of detainees.” Michel Kilo case The appeal filed by the attorney-general of the Damascus prosecutor's office against Kilo's early release is to be examined today by a full session of the Damascus court of appeal. A hearing scheduled for 25 November had to be cancelled because the judges had not been notified. Kilo's family and lawyers fear the appeal process will drag on until he has served his full sentence. Kilo was joint winner of this year's British Parliamentary Press Gallery prize for journalists who help to promote parliamentary democracy internationally. House of Commons speaker Michael Martin praised Kilo's defence of fundamental rights when presenting the prize to his son, Ayham Kilo, in October. Reporters Without Borders established a system of sponsorship 18 years ago in which international media are encouraged to adopt imprisoned journalists. More than 200 news organisations, journalists' associations, press clubs and other entities throughout the world are currently supporting journalists by regularly calling on the authorities to release them and by publicising their cases. Kilo has been adopted by Le Pèlerin (France), the 06 Mediterranean Press Club (France), various Spanish forums, the Almería Press Association (Spain) and the Calafell City Hall (Spain). Sign the petition for Michel Kilo's release