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Kurdish activist, taxi driver jailed in
Syria: lawyer
10.4.2006
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DAMASCUS, April
9, 2006 , - Syria's state security court on
Sunday sentenced one Kurdish political activist and
one Syrian taxi driver to two-and-a-half years each
in prison, human rights lawyer Anwar Bunni told AFP.
Samir Masto, a member of the banned Kurdish group
known as the Democratic Union Party, was sentenced
for "belonging to a secret organization whose aim is
to annex part of a Syria to a foreign country."
Damascus views the expression of Kurdish language
and culture as a threat to national unity and Kurds,
who make up about 10 percent of Syria's population,
are frequently arrested for alleged separatism.
The same court, which enjoys extended power under
Syrian emergency laws, sentenced taxi driver Ali
Karamaneh for "insulting and defaming the
president," Bunni said.
Meanwhile, security forces on Saturday arrested
writer and human rights activist Abdullah Hallak at
his home in northwestern Syria (Kurdistan-Syria),
according to Bunni and the Syrian Organization for
Human Rights.
The rights group expressed its "profound concern
over the increase in political arrests" and said
"the release of all political detainees is a
necessary first step to reform in Syria."
Bunni, who heads the Syrian Center for Legal
Studies, condemned "the pursuit of repression,
threats and efforts to contain all political
activities," and called on "everyone to resist
threats and the repression campaign."
Syria's emergency laws, in effect since the Baath
party took power in 1963, have come under regular
fire from rights advocates because the laws limit
free expression, permit state security courts and
so-called "arbitrary arrests."
AFP
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