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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| WND: Syrian tortured, sentenced for dissident communication |
| 2004-06-22 |
| EFL Human-rights organizations around the world are screaming about an non-appealable sentence of more than two years imprisonment handed out to a Syrian who sent an e-mail to a dissident organization. In the American media and in outer-space: if you are pro-freedom, no one can hear you scream. Syria’s State Security Court jailed an Internet user for two-and-a-half years yesterday for e-mailing a dissident newsletter. The Association of Human Rights in Syria said Abdel-Rahman Shagouri was imprisoned by the court, whose verdicts cannot be appealed, for "disseminating false information." It condemned the sentence as "a measure which violates the right of exchange of information and freedom of expression," adding: "This is a dangerous precedent and a new step backward for freedoms and human rights." The association called on Interior Minister Ali Hammoud "not to ratify the verdict of the court and release Shagouri and all political detainees in Syria." Shagouri was arrested in February 2003 for e-mailing a newsletter put out by the banned website www.thisissyria.net. It could have been worse they could have given a certain Californian restauranteur his web address. |
| Posted by:Super Hose |