(New York) - Syrian authorities should immediately drop any new charges against the political activist Ali al-`Abdallah for his peaceful political expression and immediately release him, Human Rights Watch said today.
Al-`Abdallah, a member of the Damascus Declaration opposition group, finished a 30-month sentence on June 17, 2010, on highly politicized charges related to attending a political meeting. Instead of releasing him, prison authorities sent him on the last day of his sentence to Political Security, one of Syria's security services. Officials there informed him that he must remain in jail to face a new trial on charges of "broadcasting false or exaggerated news that could affect the morale of the country" (article 286 of Penal Code) and "spoil[ing] Syria's relations with another country" (article 278 of Penal Code) for an article he wrote from his prison cell critiquing Iran's Wilayat al-Faqih's doctrine, which grants absolute authority over politics to a religious figure.
"In Syria today, not only are you not allowed to critique Syria, but you also can't criticize Syria's allies," said Joe Stork, Middle East deputy director at Human Rights Watch.
Al-`Abdullah had been convicted by a Damascus Criminal Court, along with 11 other activists, on vaguely defined charges of "weakening national sentiment" and "spreading false or exaggerated news that would affect the morale of the country." They were charged after they attended a meeting on December 1, 2007, of the National Council of the Damascus Declaration, a gathering of numerous opposition groups and activists calling for democratic reforms in Syria. Prison authorities released five of the 11 other Damascus Declaration detainees this week after they finished serving their sentences, and the release of the remaining six is expected in the coming weeks.
Founded in 2005, the Damascus Declaration is a coalition of political parties and independent activists whose stated goal is to build internal support for peaceful democratic change in Syria.
Political Security first questioned Al-`Abdallah about his article on Wilayat al-Faqih shortly after it appeared online on August 23, 2009. Six months later, on April 19, a prosecutor from the State Security Court interrogated al-`Abdallah about the article but no further action was taken - until Political Security informed him on June 17 that it was referring his case to the military prosecutor.
Al-`Abdallah's son, Mohammad al-`Abdallah, had written to Human Rights Watch on April 20 expressing concern that the security services might wait until the end of his father's sentence to announce new charges. His father is in `Adra prison.
"Ali al-`Abdullah's only fault is that he is a man who speaks his mind - whether he is in jail or not," Stork said. "That is a quality that Syria's security services cannot tolerate."
