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Syria jails Kurdish rights activist and
opposition leader
3.4.2006
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DAMASCUS,
-- A Kurdish human rights activist who was
arrested after giving the eulogy at the funeral of a
slain Kurdish cleric was sentenced to five years in
prison yesterday by a security court, a rights group
said.
The same court also sentenced a member of the banned
Muslim Brotherhood to 12 years in prison.
Kurdish activist Riad Drar was convicted on charges
of disseminating false news, inciting sectarian
riots and forming a secret organisation, Ammar
Qurabi, a member of the National Organisation for
Human Rights, told the Associated Press.
Drar was detained in June shortly after the funeral
of leading Kurdish cleric Mohammed Mashouk Al
Khaznawi, an Islamic scholar who was abducted last
year and whose body was subsequently found in a
hospital morgue. Drar gave the eulogy at Al
Khaznawi’s funeral.
In his speech, Drar spoke about the rights Syria’s
Kurds should have, including citizenship and equal
rights with other citizens.
Kurdish activists blamed state security for Al
Khaznawi’s death, saying his body bore marks of
severe torture. Syria’s state-run media said then
that Al Khaznawi’s death was a purely criminal act.
Syrian officials routinely decline to comment on
sensitive security matters and such sensitive
reports and were not available to comment on Drar
and Qattan’s sentences yesterday.
There are about 1.5 million Kurds in Syria,
including about 200,000 who are denied citizenship.
AP
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