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EU condemns jailing of lawyers in Syria
27-07-2010
The EU has strongly condemned the sentencing of Mr. Haitham Al Maleh and Mr. Muhannad Al Hassani, two Syrian lawyers, to three years in prison respectively, on charges “that appear to be in breach of their fundamental rights and freedoms”.
A Declaration by High Representative Catherine Ashton said the EU also “deeply deplores the renewed arrest on 17 June of Mr. Ali Al-Abdullah, a Syrian writer, a day after his release from prison having completed his previous sentence”.
The EU is in particular gravely concerned by the situation of Mr. Al Maleh, due to his fragile health and advanced age.
It called for the immediate release of all three men, and urged the Syrian Government to reconsider all cases of prisoners of conscience.
“The EU considers that the above convictions undermine the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association and calls on Syria to abide by the international commitments it freely entered into, in particular under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees freedom of opinion and of expression and the right to a fair trial,” the Declaration said. (ENPI Info Centre)
ENPI Info Centre webpage – Syria
