DAMASCUS - Syriaâs state security court sentenced four Kurds to two-and-a-half year jail terms for belonging to âa secret organisation,â their lawyer said on Sunday. The four are members of the Democratic Union Party, a banned Kurdish party in Syria, and are accused of belonging to âan secret organisation aiming to annex part of Syrian territory to a foreign country.â
Greater Kurdistan, I suspect. | Their lawyer, Faisal Badr, called the verdicts âunconstitutionalâ because they were issued by a court that was created under emergency laws. âThis is the usual accusation against any Kurd who appears before this court,â Badr said. âIt has no basis because all Kurdish parties are asking for a democratic and just solution to the Kurdish problem in the framework of Syriaâs territorial unity.â
Kurdish leaders in Syria deny any secessionist aims and say they only want their language, culture and political rights to be recognised by the government. About 1.5 million Kurds live in Syria, where they make up about nine percent of the population. |