No due process for Michel Kilo as trial postponed for third time

Reporters Without Borders condemned the adjournment today of imprisoned writer and journalist Michel Kilo's trial for the third time. The press freedom organisation was told the hearing was postponed until 5 March because two people being tried at the same time as Kilo, Khalil Hussein and Suleyman Al-Shummar, did not show up for today's hearing. They were released last September. “Kilo has already spent more than nine months in prison awaiting the start of his trial,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We call on the judicial authorities to try him separately from the two fugitive opposition members in order to put an end to a wait that is unbearable for both him and his family.” Ten of the 270 people who signed a joint statement entitled “Beirut-Damascus, Damascus-Beirut” calling for an improvement in relations between Syria and Lebanon were arrested in May 2006. Kilo is one of the three who are still in prison. The others are communist activist Mahmoud Issa and lawyer Anwar al-Bunni. ------------------------------------------------------------- 14.02.2007 Call for the release of Michel Kilo, now held for more than nine months As journalist and writer Michel Kilo prepares to appear in court when his trial resumes on 19 February, Reporters Without Borders today reiterated its call for his release and the withdrawal of all the charges against him. “What are the Syrian authorities trying to prove by keeping Kilo in detention,” the press freedom organisation asked. “The regime no longer has to demonstrate its control of the justice system and thereby crush any critical desires on the part of the few civil society actors who still dare to speak out in Syria.” Reporters Without Borders added: “Journalists, writers and human rights activists are brutally repressed by a formidable security apparatus. As this is an authoritarian government with no scruples, we urge western diplomats in Syria to take action and, in particular, to attend Kilo's trial in order to get him freed as soon as possible.” Kilo used to hope he would see Syria embark on reforms. He said in 2004: “A new wind is blowing in Syria. The people are less afraid and they are more taken with democracy.” He has been held for the past nine months for signing a joint statement called “Beirut-Damascus, Damascus-Beirut” that called for an improvement in relations between Syria and Lebanon. Charged with inciting “religious and racial divisions,” publishing “mendacious and exaggerated reports with the aim of discrediting the government” and “defaming the president and the courts,” the 67-year-old Kilo faces a possible life sentence. A judicial manoeuvre last October blocked the execution of a provisional release order which a judge had issued. Following his arrest on 14 May 2006, he was transferred to Adra prison near Damascus. Syria's largest prison, it currently holds more than 6,000 detainees, of whom more than two thirds are awaiting trial. One of his lawyers, Joseph Al-Laham, told Reporters Without Borders he has not been allowed to talk to his client in private. Reporters Without Borders established a system of sponsorship 16 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 Pélerin (France), France Bleu Azur (France), various Spanish forums, the Almería Press Association (Spain) and the Calafell City Hall (Spain). Sign the petition calling for Michel Kilo's release