Damascus releases 55 prisoners, most of them Islamists
Syria, Politics, 2/14/2005

Damascus has released some 55 political detainees most of them are members of the banned Muslim Brothers group, including five Palestinians, two Lebanese, one Iraqi and one Tunisian.

The human rights society in Syria said on Saturday that the Syrian authorities transported 57 political detainees from a prison in Sednaya near Damascus to the military security administration in Damascus. The society said that 55 persons were released most of them are from the governorate of Aleppo and returned back two again to prison. The chairman of the society Haitham al-Maleh said "270 political prisoners remain in Sednaya prison." However, the last release operation of detainees in Syria was in December 2004 when 112 political detainees most of them belonging also to the banned Muslim Brothers group.

Most of the released prisoners were detained following the incidents of 1982 in which Damascus accused the Muslim Brothers group of trying to topple the regime. Estimates of human rights societies said that there are still 2,000 prisoners.

Meantime, the activist in the field of human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni said that more than 50 Kurdish detainees from the banned Kurdistani labor party in Syria are observing hunger strike since Tuesday in Adra prison ( 30 Km to the east of Damascus.

He explained that the military court set February 17 as a date for starting the trial of the first group of the Kurdish detainees over al-Qamishli incidents in March 2004, whose number is estimated at 160.

Previous Stories:
  Syria Muslim Brothers ask for investigating Hama's incidents   (12/17/2004)
  First Syrian prisoner released   (8/4/2004)
  Syria's Muslim Brothers call on Damascus to end harassment   (7/24/2004)

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