Syrian judiciary releases two Kurdish activists
Syria, Politics, 2/23/2004

The supreme security state court in Syria released two Kurdish political activists after alleviating a judiciary sentence against them, while sentence decision against other 6 was postponed.

The defense lawyer for the detainees, Khalim Matouk, said that the state security supreme court "released Hassan Saleh and Mouran Othman after it had alleviated sentenced taken against them from life imprisonment to one year and two months imprisonment and then releasing them."

He explained that accusations against the two Kurds came on the background of organizating a demonstration for the Kurds in front of the Syrian parliament demanding giving them their cultural and political rights and they were accused later of "belonging to a secret society and chopping part of the homeland to be annexed for a foreign state." Matouk considered that the " unexpected sentence" indicates " a detente in a positive direction in issues of political characteristics."

Some 150 persons gathered outside the court chanting slogans in Kurdish and Arabic demanding more "freedoms," while banners were raised calling for solidarity with the Kurdish detainees who are tried before the state security court." Among the public were five foreign diplomats working in Syria: one American, a European, A Dutch, British, a Canadian and one Dutch.

In a similar process, trials of another group of Kurds took place yesterday before the state security court who demonstrated before the headquarters of UNICEF in Damascus escorted by Kurdish children. Matouk said that the trial session of the 6 held Kurds was postponed until the second week of April as the chairman of the court asked the defense to prepare for defending them with the aim to " accelerate the trial."

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