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Syria jails one Kurd, dozens more begin
hunger strike
19.12.2005
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DAMASCUS, Dec 19
(AFP) - Syria's state security court on Sunday
sentenced a Kurdish man to two years in prison for
"belonging to a secret organization", while dozens
of imprisoned Kurds began a hunger strike, a rights
lawyer said.
The sentenced man, Mohammed Dib Bilal, was arrested
in January 2004 because he belonged to the
Democratic Union Party, a banned Kurdish political
group, according to human rights lawyer Anwar Bunni.
"His health has deteriorated due to the conditions
in which he was detained," Bunni said.
The court also put off until next year the trial of
14 Kurds who are "accused of belonging to Al-Qaeda"
and have been in detention for nearly one year.
The 14 accused announced they would "begin today a
hunger strike," as would around 30 of their fellow
inmates at the Saydnaya prison near the Syrian
capital, Bunni said.
The hunger strike was "to protest the conditions of
their detention," said Bunni, who added that the
proceedings were "unjust" and "unconstitutional."
Ruled by the powerful Baath party regime since 1963,
Syria is governed under emergency laws that grant
extra power to security forces and courts.
Most forms of political assembly are banned and
minority groups such as Kurds are frequently
arrested and jailed for allegedly attempting to
split up the country.
Meanwhile, the trial of Syrian opposition leader
Hassan Abdul Azim that opened Sunday before a
Damascus military court was adjourned until January
19, the Arab Organization for Human Rights said.
The group "expresses its concern over repeated
constitutional violations by Syrian authorities and
asks them to drop the charges brought against Abdul
Azim", spokesman Amar Qorabi said.
Abdul Azim is the spokesman for a coalition of five
disparate opposition parties which are banned in
Syria known as the National Democratic Rally (NDR).
He was accused of "being in possession of banned
publications", in reference to an NDR publication on
democracy.
US diplomats were present at the opening court
session, the rights group said.
AFP
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